Tales from Konoha High: Gaara and Highschool
by reforgedGaara
Summary: Gaara is in Konoha, after being shipped off by Kazekage. He meets the rest of the characters in his highschool classes, but classes dont last long after two villains interrupt them. OCXGaaraXHinata, SasukeXSakura, NejiXOC, NarutoXIno
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters or ideas.

Prologue

_I fight for myself and love only myself_ the thoughts rang true in the familiar red haired warriors' head. _I shall never change and thus my purpose shall never change, I was created to kill and so I shall to prove my existence._ The sad sand warrior proclaims inwardly to himself as he dresses himself. There was no grogginess to cloud his vision or judgment as he never slept; there was only pain, the pain that had eaten away at the innocent child that had once been known as Sabaku no Gaara. Now only known as Gaara, because anyone who knew his full name never lived long enough to tell anyone. He slipped on a tight black plain t-shirt that, even as baggy as it was, still outlined his toned chest muscles. He used the sand to bring his pants from across the room to him, with a satisfying slithering sound the sand slid out from around the room as it brought him his black jeans. Gaara slipped them on with relative ease as the jeans were baggy. His white sash slipped itself around him automatically, first around his chest then around his waist. The sand formed itself into a gourd on his back. Gaara shook his head and mentally made an image of a backpack, the sand obeyed its master and transformed into a backpack. Gaara grunted slightly from the weight of the backpack, he could have made it lighter but the semi-masochistic side of him liked the punishment he inflicted upon himself. He looked at himself in the mirror and ruffled his red hair. His light green eyes swept over the mirror image of himself and noticed that his eyes were showing his lack of sleep but he didn't care what others thought of him so he left it alone. Gaara walked down the stairs of his two story house to the kitchen where an already made breakfast was made for him. He ate not caring to the taste, just that it was sustenance enough to keep him alive. With that done he grabbed his lunch and shoved it in his backpack, and then he was out the door. He climbed in his black jaguar and sped off down the desert Texas road. While traveling at such speeds an officer of the law with dark dusty hair and white skin spotted Gaara through his dark sunglasses _got one_ he thought as the officer sped after Gaara. Gaara rolled his eyes and pulled over reluctantly. The officer pulled in behind Gaara and got out of his car. _I gots me a teenager…_the officer thought as he pulled his gun _I'm gonna mess with his head…._ The officer thought as he put his gun through Gaara's open window "get outta the car!" the officer screamed. Instead of the fear the officer expected, Gaara's eyes were full of delight as sand crept from Gaara's backpack to the officer's gun hand. "**Sabaku Sousou" **Gaara says as the sand constricts around the officers gun hand merging flesh and gun together. The officer kneels in pain clutching what two seconds ago was his hand. Gaara's face shows no emotion as he opens the door, slamming it into the officer's head sending him to the ground. Gaara's sand creeps around the officer's body till it is completely engulfed. Gaara looks into the officer's eyes and says "**Sabaku Sousou" **as the sand crushes the life force from the officer. Gaara's sand does not stop there but then surrounds the poor law man's vehicle and hurls it into the horizon along with the corpse. Gaara looks down and kicks the ground "Not enough fight……" he says softly as he gets into his jaguar and speeds off on his way to school once more on the dusty deserted desert road.


	2. Chapter 1: Deja Vu

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters.

Ch.1 Déjà vu

As Gaara pulled into the parking lot of a great jungle green colored school building, he noticed a number of shinobi hanging out on the outside of the school waiting for it to begin. _Fools...why do they waste such time socializing instead of training?_ He thought distainfully. He steps out of his jaguar and closes the door, clicking his keys twice until a satisfying beep came from the car signaling it was locked. A bunch of Senior Shinobi spy the new comer and decide to start something. All are wearing strange circular hats with what look like black umbrellas, Gaara looks at the with his dead set eyes _Come on...make my day_ he mentally projects. The formerly laughing seniors wisely beat it to a safer location without much fight. _Phhph...weaklings_ Gaara thinks ruefully. Suddenly sand shoots out and wraps around the lead senior and makes to crush him but Gaara's head starts to pound as a familiar sight meets his eyes, people running, almost tripping over each other to get away.

He releases the senior and falls to a knee as the flash back hits him full force bringing him back to his elementary school days. A young Gaara uses the sand to bring back a ball that was kicked up to the top of a building, his small hands clutching a brown teddy bear. The young Gaara bows his head to the kids as he offers the ball to them with the sand. The kids scream at the sight of the sand and run away tripping over each other to get away. "no….no…don't leave me alone!" the young Gaara screams as the sand obeys it's master's desires and wraps around the nearest child and starts to drag him to Gaara. The kid screams "NO!" as Gaara relents and releases him. The kid runs away as fast as he can and Gaara's eyes water "Why…..Why….Why am I a monster?" he asks himself.

A soft feminine touch brings Gaara full force back to the present, as he opens his eyes partly to see a dark haired female with ice grey eyes lightly touching his face. "Are….are…you okay….?" She asks softly. Gaara notices her tie dye shirt and semi-loose jeans that have a fair number of holes in them. Gaara's eyes harden and his natural reflexes kick in as the sand whirls around him, knocking her to the ground. Gaara stands slowly and glares at her as he walks off slowly. _Damn girls...always getting in my way...always clouding things up...well not for me...not now...not ever_ he thinks as he stalks away to his class room.

Hinata slowly gets up from the ground slightly bruised, but scared. "He….he hurt me….." she whispered softly as she gathered her books and her eyes watered. "But….those eyes…..so much pain was in them…" she says softly to herself. Just then the bell rings, she dusts herself off slightly and sighs "So much pain……" she whispers as she walks off to class.


	3. Chapter 2: Enter Kakashi

Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto characters or events.

Ch 3: Meet The Class, Enter Kakashi

As the class went about its slow decent into chaos, one particularly obnoxious and goofy shinobi with blonde hair and an orange jacket with orange pants snickered. _This is gonna be the bestest trick ever!_ He thought inwardly as he procured an eraser. He opened the door a crack and placed the eraser on top of the door. Gaara and Sasuke both were watching the scene and seemingly shared the same thought _Idiot_. Sakura watched from a distance and rolled her eyes while secretly loving the trick.

A few minutes passed that Gaara spent looking at the blank wall. But suddenly footsteps were heard, all ears perked, and all faces stared expectantly at the door. The door slid open a little and there was a distinct clop sound as eraser dust filled the room. Naruto would have laughed if he hadnt been coughing so hard. The dust cleared and Gaara looked to see an adult who was in shape and of muscular build wearing camo pants with a white muscle shirt and a green head band that covered one of his eyes. The adult looked around and entered the room leisurely "My name is Hatake Kakashi...and right now...I hate you all" he said.

Kakashi walked to his desk and looked up bored "Alright here's the deal, one by one come up and tell me your name, your age, one thing you like, one thing you hate, and your dream" he said still bored. He looked down at his list and called out "Uchia Sasuke"

A dark haired boy wearing blue jeans, a dark blue shirt with his jacket on that had his Uchia clan symbol approached the front of the room and looked at the class with harsh eyes "My name is Uchia Sasuke, Im 17 years of age, I don't really like anything, I hate almost everything and I do have a dream, which I have no intention of leaving as an ambition, the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

There was a stunned silence in the room as Sasuke sat back down. Finally Kakashi looked back down at his list "Uzamaki Naruto". Naruto charged up to the front of the class and posed dramatically "My name is Uzamaki Naruto, I'm 16 years old, I like pretty much everything, I don't really hate anything, and my dream is to become Hokage!" There was a stunned silence...followed by laughter from everyone but Sasuke and Gaara. Naruto looked down and walked back to his seat.

Kakashi looked down at his pad again and called out "Sabaku no Gaara" Gaara made the tiger seal with his hands as his sand swirled around him, making him disintegrate infront of everyone then appear in the front of the class room. "My name is Sabaku no Gaara, I am 17 years of age, I don't like much, I hate everything and everyone. I have no dream. There was a look of horror on most of the class. Gaara didn't care as he walked back to his seat calmly.

Kakashi called out "Hinata Hyuga". Hinata gulped and slowly made her way to the front. "My name is Hinata...I am 15 no wait 16 years old...I like flowers...I don't really hate anything...and my dream...I don't know what my dream is..." she murmured and walked back to her seat. The rest of the day went smoothly until Gaara noticed Hinata staring at him out of the corner of his eye. _Why does she look at me like that!_ he thought frustrated and decided he would confront her at lunch.

-------------end ch 3------------

hey glad I could type this up today during school, I'll try to type up another chapter before the end of today and post it, but I'd appreciate some comments on it as in tell me what you think of it and maybe where you think its going.


	4. Chapter 3: Lunch?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it…..except my OC's

REALLY LONG CHAPTER

Ch. 4: Lunch…..and Maybe Some Desert ;)

The first two periods of the day went smoothly Gaara pretended to listen and Kakashi pretended to teach. Gaara rolled his eyes as he walked down the outdoor paths of the campus _Illusionary and Transformation techniques are too cowardly for me_ he thought reflecting on the mornings lessons. As Gaara walked he looked around and a giant oak tree caught his attention _The shade would make it a more enjoyable lunch_ Gaara decided as he walked over to it and sat under its canopy of branches in the cool shade.

Hyuga Hinata sat on the far side of a giant oak tree eating her lunch quietly by herself. _Gaara-kun..._ she thought as she munched on her sandwich thoughtfully _There's so little to him…yet…so much….I cant put my finger on it…_ she thought as she took a sip of her water _one thing's for certain…those eyes...so much is in them…but…it's hidden…or maybe I'm just rationalizing why I'm falling for him…_ she thought quietly. Her thoughts were interrupted by an unusually high chakra reading one word shot through her head _Him_. She huddled up, clasping her knees with her arms. No matter how cute he was she couldn't help her shy nature…and he was so…..so…intimidating. _please don't find me…_ She thought with her fingers croseed. She heard someone sit down on the grass of the other side of the tree _phew….he must not sense me…_she thought as she roused the courage to peek around the side of the tree at Gaara _I wonder how he is when no one is looking…._

Sabaku no Gaara reached out and retrieved his lunch from the sand that had been holding it in midair for him. _Its odd…all these girls talking to me….why?I doubt they really like me, I'm probably just a pawn in their chess game._ He thought and his eyes narrowed _If so then I'll show them why no one toys with me_ his sand whirled around him expectantly of the punishment he had in store for them but something made him hesitate, made him wonder _What if they are genuine?_ He shook his head and took a bit out of his sandwich. _We'll see soon enough_

Hinata sighed a little and poked her fingers together _he's so sad….why is he like this?_ She wondered _If he weren't so violent I might actually…_her thoughts were cut off as the familiar chakra signatures were picked up _oh…its them….Sakura and Ino_ she thought as she felt them coming in the distance. She slunk back around to her side of the tree _If I weren't so shy…I'd get up some courage and talk to Gaara…maybe…maybe there is more to him than what he shows…why am I the only shy girl here?_ She asked as a tear rolled down her cheek _and shy girls finish last…_

Sakura walked faster side by side with Ino, she thought _I might not have a chance with Sasuke-kun right now but if all goes according to plan…_ she smiled inwardly deviously. Inner Sakura jumped and squealed once again at the thought of Sasuke-kun and Gaara fighting over her. Her attention turned outward as she looked next to her and saw her ex-bestfriend and now rival, Ino. _I'll get Gaara and then Sasuke before her…that slut…look at her in her tight black mini-skirt, chains and stud bracelet…slut_ she thought seething.

The blonde haired Ino looked at her studded bracelet and played with the chains on her tight black mini-skirt _I'll beat that prep Sakura…even if I have to play dirty…_she smiled at the thought _oh even if I have to play really dirty…_ she gave Sakura a dirty smirk and laughed as Sakura narrowed her eyes at Ino. _I'll get Gaara and Sasuke, then leave Sakura with that annoying kid Naruto…_ she laughed on the inside as she imagined Sakura alone with Naruto while Sasuke and Gaara tended upon herself. _Right now Gaara will just be my tool…but he is actually…kinda…cute…in a dark way…and that's my favorite way…_she thought.

Suddenly, both girls looked at each other and flames seemed to grow from their eyes as they both broke into sprints toward Gaara. Gaara couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the two girls sprinting towards him trying to out do each other. _That blonde is really hot…I mean…jeeze…those curves…I wonder if she's so fair skinned all over…_ he thought as his mind slid into the gutter. His thoughts were interrupted by squeals from the two girls who, to his disappointment, were already infront of his face. He heard them "Gaara-kun!" they shouted as they neared him. _Great…_he thought sarcastically. Ino wisely decided to just wave to Gaara instead of glomping him, she sat on his left and Sakura sat on his right. Sakura turned to Gaara "Hey how you doin Mr. Sunshine?" she teased. Gaara shrugged "Im doing okay I guess" he said softly not used to this much attention. Ino giggled "Gaara sounds so…so…harsh…I'm gonna make up a nick-name for you!" she squealed. Gaara closed his eyes _anything but that…anything…please…_he thought loudly. Ino grinned and said "I know! I'll call you panda! Panda-kun!" she made to hug him but the sand immediately rose up and she wisely backed off. Sakura liked the name as well and chanted "YES! Panda! Panda! Panda!" The girls laid both their heads on his shoulders giggling. Gaara was getting tired of this, very tired of this. His eyes narrowed and his sand rose up encompassing both Sakura and Ino, covering their mouths….yet…something was amiss…they were covered in sand…yet…there was still giggling…_No one has lungs powerful enough for their giggles to escape the sand shell I have the girls in…it must be close by…I must silence it._ He thought as he turned to the girls "Stay here, don't move, oh…." He gave them a half smile/smirk "I forgot, you probably cant move a muscle in that sand." He chuckled a little and walked around the tree tracing the sound of laughter.

Ino was puzzled, one moment she was naming Gaara and giggling on his shoulder, the next she was bound tightly in this cocoon of sand. _This is extremely…frightening…yet…hot…_ she thought as she tried to move but couldn't _He is too kinky…_she thought with a naughty smirk on her face. _I could get to liking this guy more than Sasuke-kun…_she thought while she tried to calm herself down.

Sakura didn't know what to think _I'm in a cocoon of sand…_then it hit her….there was little oxygen, and then her panic set in. _Oh my God! He's going to kill me!_ She struggled hard to get out but her efforts were futile. _Sasuke-kun! Save me!_ She thought in vain then just relaxed, resigned to her supposed fate.

Gaara stepped over the giant roots of the tree until his eyes rested upon a huddled familiar dark haired form that seemed to shake and convulse….._ah…she's terrified of me…._Gaara thought with grim satisfaction. Or at least that's what he thought until the form let out a gasp for air and then started to giggle again. _She's…she's…laughing…at me…_he realized as his satisfaction grew to fury. "I'll show you to laugh at me!" he yelled as his sand whirled around him and Hinata looked up. Her face turned from happy to fear in less than a second, Gaara thought _yes…that's more like it_ he thought as he was about to kill her but he was stopped by an unusually high chakra reading _Uchia Sasuke_ he thought as his grin warped into a twisted smile. He turned around, sparing Hinata for the moment, and walked off to the other side of the tree. He released Sakura and Ino from their cocoons, Ino looked flushed and Sakura looked like she was about to lose her lunch. Gaara smirked _I could like this Ino chick after all…_ he thought as he noticed her move closer to him with a smirk on her face. Gaara's face moved up the path to rest on the shadowed form of one Uchia Sasuke, his rival.

Uchia Sasuke walked alone on the campus trail keeping his thoughts to himself _hmm where is Sakura-chan? She is usually following me around by now._ He wondered as he looked farther and saw the form of Sabaku no Gaara with BOTH Ino and Sakura doting on him. _That new guy…he needs to be put in his place…and I am just the one who can._ He thought confidently as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two kunai and one throwing star. He opened his eyes and hurled his kunai at Gaara then the throwing star from the right side. _That ought to test his reflexes_ he thought.

Gaara's sand tracked the kunai and immediately caught them as they neared Gaara. Gaara looked to Sakura and Ino "Get behind me" he barked surprised that he cared to try and protect them, as the throwing star came in from the right side, the sand caught it easily. Gaara's eyes tracked the trajectory of the kunai to the shadowed form of Uchia Sasuke. _Nice try…but…try this on for size_ he thought excited as he formed the tiger hand seal with his hands and whispered "Sand shiruken" the sand obeyed and hurled itself down the path at Sasuke. _Dodge this bitch_

Sasuke was stupefied. _How did he just do that? How…_his thoughts had him absorbed in himself enough to rule out the thought of a counter-attack. Just then How became less important as three fist sized balls of sand impacted Sasuke in the chest, then three to the feet, and three to the head. Sasuke was too inwardly focused to see them coming so he slammed hard into the ground. _Who…Who is this guy?_ Sasuke thought while lying on the ground dazed.

Sakura, Ino, and now Hinata couldn't believe their eyes, Sasuke had just literally bit the dust, and hard. They all screamed, except Hinata, "Sasuke-kun!"

Gaara smirked _Too easy_.

Sasuke got up and looked directly into Gaara's eyes. _Now it's on_ he thought after charging to Gaara's position. Sasuke stopped and eyed Gaara "Oi, sandman, how did you do that?"

Gaara looked boredly at him and said "How did the dust taste? Back for seconds?" he said darkly, smirked loving the thought of battle.

All were stuck in what seemed to be the tension of the moment, Gaara and Sasuke…the fight of the year…..was going to happen right now……..during lunch…..

-----------end ch4----------

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAH how did you all like that chapter? CLIFF HANGERS! THE AUTHOR'S REVENGE! MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. akhem sorry about that. Well turns out you'll just have to wait for tommarrows chapter, I promise it'll be shorter lol. As always keep those opinions coming!


	5. Chapter 4: Fight

Authors Note: Hey sorry for the long absence, things got pretty complicated in my life and so I'm not allowed to update as much as I would like, plus it's a pain to sit down and type it out so well just keep looking for my next couple updates. Here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Ch.4 Enter Kara Bentley Shadow Ninja

Gaara looked into Sasuke's Sharingan eyes and glared _This ought to be cake._ Gaara thought as he cracked his knuckles and continued to try and stare down Sasuke. Sasuke glared through his Sharingan eyes as he studied Gaara _I don't know how this guy fights but I do know that I can't read his movements with my Sharingan, its like his chakra has a mind of its own……what am I going to do?...well when in doubt….improvise_. Sasuke thought as he charged at Gaara moving to hit Gaara in the face only to be blocked by sand. _Shit_ Sasuke thought as he threw a kick, then a right punch, a left kick, and more and more attacks till his hands and feet were nothing but a blur. Gaara looked at him boredly as his sand blocked every attack _This is boring….there is not enough…blood._ Gaara's eyes became more blood shot as he directed his sand which wrapped around Sasuke's wrist and flung him into the tree. Sasuke got up stunned just in time to see a giant hill of sand about to crush him. Thinking fast, Sasuke rolled to the side avoiding the sand by millimeters. Sasuke jumped up into the tree to rest as Gaara approached to look up the tree totally unafraid. Sasuke panted exhausted _How am I supposed to beat him…since physical attacks are useless…maybe I'll have to use…my chakra too._ Sasuke's eyes closed in concentration to try and focus himself. Gaara looked up and said "Oi, Sasuke, come down you coward". Sasuke jumped out of the tree into the air "Oi, Gaara, I'm right here!" he said from the air. Gaara looked at him and reached out for him with the sand, Sasuke anticipating this dodged and used his feet to push off the sand that missed him propelling him higher in the air. _Gotcha_ Sasuke thought as his hands formed the seals for his attack. _Tiger, crane, dragon._ He thought as his fingers moved in the appropriate shapes. Sasuke felt the burning hot plasma arise from his chest "Katon Ryu no Jutsu!" Sasuke said as he breathed pure fire on Gaara's form from above. _It's over…_Sasuke thought while the smoke cleared.

Gaara saw the attack coming from a mile away and had already made his shell of sand around him. The sand tightened so that no heat could get inside, protecting its master but begging for blood as it had not had any for the longest time. Gaara smiled evilly "yes mother….I will give you blood" he said to the sand. Once he felt the attack pass Gaara sat down inside his ball and decided it was best to let Sasuke think he had won, so that Gaara could catch him unexpectantly.

Hinata, Sakura and Ino gasped as the fire burst from Sasuke's mouth and engulfed the form of Gaara-kun. "GAARA-KUN!" All the girls yelled out concerned. Hinata blinked a little and a tear formed and ran down her cheek _No…Gaara-kun.. _She thought. The fire and smoke cleared revealing a certain ball that the outside was still sand, not glass, still sand and the sand was angry….that was apparent.

Sasuke's eyes widened in awe _No…its..not..possible…_ he thought as the sand rushed forward to grab him. He felt the sand envelop all over his body and cut him, seeming to drink the blood that spilled out from his cuts. _This just cant be real…_Sasuke thought as he felt incredible pressure build up around him. He looked around to find himself wrapped in a cocoon of sand. Gaara stepped out of his ball calmly, not even a scratch on him. The words of Temari came to his head _No one hurts Gaara…….no one has ever hurt Gaara….and no one will ever hurt Gaara…_ Sasuke's eyes were frozen in fright as Gaara glared at him, seemingly all too eager to kill him. Gaara looked at the helpless Sasuke and smiled evilly "Sabaku…"then Gaara froze.

The girls all breathed a sigh of relief when Gaara of The Sand emerged from his sand shield unhurt but were suddenly scared out of their wits by the expression on his face. _He's going to kill Sasuke-kun…_the thought dawned on all of the girls but all were too terrified to speak up or do anything but watch in horror.

If Sasuke could breathe, he would have sighed in relief but instead he was just puzzled as to why Gaara was going to let him suffocate instead of kill him now. _Maybe he's sadistic like that…_ Sasuke thought but then his thoughts were changed as Gaara's sand lowered from him and he could taste the sweet flavor of air again. _What is happening?_ He thought as he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Gaara growled lowly "Why can't I move…." He asked thin air until a slim figure jumped down from the tree. A figure with blonde hair a fine body and a whole lot of attitude. "Eragon…I can't believe what you've come to…fighting weaklings?...I'm almost ashamed of you". The blonde haired girl said. Gaara looked down and saw that her shadow was linked to his "ah….Katzchen…you've returned…" he said softly almost regretfully. The blonde haired girl smiled "So my growing up hasn't changed me that much has is Eragon?" she asked as he ruffled his hair without his sand getting in the way. "You don't like my shadow imitation-esque technique do you?" she asked laughing. Gaara merely growled in response. Kara laughed "my name is Kara Bentley and I'm Gaara's royal caretaker or best friend you could say." She said to the other girls. Hinata, Ino and Sakura merely nodded still in shock at how one girl had brought Gaara to his knees so easily. Gaara looked at Kara "You have a lot of nerve…" Kara nodded "you know it, now lets get you back inside so you don't kill anyone." She laughed as she intertwined her arm with his and led him away.

Ino's head was about to explode into anger, Sakura's head was about to explode into anger, and Hinata's eyes were about to explode into tears. Hinata sniffed _But…but..I..wanted…Gaara-kun…_she thought softly. The bell rang and the girls went back to class. One thing was obvious to all of them……….. this was going to be an interesting year.


	6. Chapter 5: Cracks in The Armor

Author's Note: Hey all, sorry for taking so long but my life continues to be complicated and hectic. (isn't everyone's?) Anyways, Here is the next chapter. As always keep those reviews coming in. P.S. Sabaku Kyu is roughly translated as Desert Funeral which is different than Desert Coffin (Sabaku Sosou)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Ch.6 Cracks in the Armor

Gaara was sitting down in his desk thinking while the others listened to what Kakashi-sensei was saying. _Why did she have to show up after all these years? Did she not trouble me enough back then? Meh…more importantly…….how did she survive Sabaku Kyu?_ He thought. Gaara's red hair blew lightly in the air conditioning, the others students were cold but it didn't bother Gaara, he was used to colder. _She's going to complicate things….I can feel it…._he thought looking to his right to see Kara yawning. She turned to him and smiled. Gaara rolled his eyes and turned back to the board. _Meh…she has a notice from Kazekage…for her to live with me….this is going to suck with a capital S._ Gaara thought as he picked at his black shirt that had a giant white spider painted on it, which he wore with black jeans and a red sash around his waist. His sea green eyes looked to his right to catch Hinata-sama staring at him with watery eyes. _Why does she always stare at me like this?_

Hinata could barely make out Kakashi's form through her tears that threatened to spill over her eyes at any moment. _Gaara-kun…_Her eyes bugged as Gaara caught her staring at him again, Hinata immediately looked away. _Don't hate me….Gaara-kun.. _Hinata thought as she buried her head in her sleeves of her light blue baggy t-shirt and loose jeans. She played with her sterling silver bracelet that had all sorts of angel charms on it to distract her from Gaara's intense glare. She sniffed as she thought about the special feeling she always got when he looked at her with such intensity. She looked at her bracelet until she recognized the charms _Michael…the arch-angel…the fighter…_ she took the charm in her hand and shook away her tears, still covering herself with her arms. _Michael fought for what he loved…..so now…_Her fist clenched around the charm _I have too….I will fight for Gaara-kun….no more hiding….I'm gonna let her know…Gaara-kun…is mine._ She looked up with new ferocity in her eyes as she looked into Gaara's sea green eyes as if to say _I am not afraid._

Gaara quietly stared back into Hinata's eyes _Her tone has changed….her aura is…different…_ he thought. Gaara tried to pull away from her gaze but found himself drawn into her gaze further and further. Gaara's heart pounded with aching _no…it cant be…_ He held his head as his heart hurt from negligence and hurt. His eyes became blood shot and an errie voice rang in his head _Don't fear son, I won't leave you…..but I need one thing….blood…_Gaara nodded solemnly as an insane grin crossed his face.

Kara looked over to Gaara immediately concerned when he got that expression. _The sand…he's listening to it again….no….he's so convinced that it's his mother…and I know what happens when the sand speaks….blood rains…_Kara immediately took Gaara's hand to comfort him in his moment of weakness. _Please work…._she thought in desperation.

Hinata saw the look of insanity cross Gaara's face and she saw him hold his own head in pain. _Gaara….so strong….so brave…but so…alone…_she thought. _I have to help him…..I like him…_she thought as she reached over to his hand and grasped it firmly then with a look of concern she said "Gaara-kun…are you alright?". She breathed slowly calming her nerves as she felt her palm touch his without sand blocking the way. She exhaled in relief back…." She whispered lowly.

Gaara's vision expanded as his eyes reopened and found that both his hands were taken. _What?_ He thought as he looked over to his right to see Hinata holding his hand close to her face and then to his left to see Kara holding his hand in both of hers grinning. Gaara was extremely perplexed "What are you doing…" he asked Kara and Hinata. Hinata immediately let go of his hand and blushing, hid her face in her arms on the desk. Gaara looked to Kara "What was that about?" he asked in his usual monotone voice. Kara sighed and said "You were losing it again……." Gaara nodded slowly "I understand". Class skimmed by as the rest of the day passed uneventfully. Gaara's hunger for blood increased and increased, the more he repressed it the more it seemingly grew. Gaara stumbled down the hall accidentally bumping through Hinata and Kara, the two girls had been having waging war against each other all day "Out of my way…." Gaara said roughly as he stumbled out the door of the school. Kara looked up "What the hell?" she said. Hinata got up and shook her head to clear it "Gaara-kun…"she said as she looked over to Kara and immediately jumped up heading after Gaara. She flung herself out the door only to find that Gaara had wandered off. _Now where did he go?_ She thought. A familiar blonde haired ninja landed next to Hinata and said "This isn't good….whenever Gaara goes off alone, things get violent….I have to protect the others from him…but…I'll need your help…Hinata-sama…." Hinata nodded and took with Kara to find Gaara.

Gaara's head seemed to pound with pain, his heart thawing for no apparent reason and his old emotional wounds bled freshly. Gaara's mental condition worsened as he started to give in to his hunger for blood _Must…find…someone…to KILL_ he thought as he leaned against a pine tree for support. Suddenly there was a flash of orange, a wave of brown sand, and a mess of blonde hair lay on the floor of the forest. Gaara looked up insanely, with a grin showing all of his teeth, to see Uzamaki Naruto rise slowly from the ground "HEY! YOU, MONSTER! You hurt Sasuke no one hurts Sasuke other than me! GOT IT?" Gaara didn't waste time with idle chatter as his sand immediately lashed out to grasp him. Naruto jumped back twenty feet and frowned "I guess I'll have to teach you to respect me!" he yelled as he charged Gaara. Gaara flew forward connecting in midair a punch to Naruto's jaw. Naruto fell back but managed to keep his balance " you're better than Sasuke said" he said loudly. Gaara just jumped forward to land a flying kick on Naruto's chest. Naruto sidestepped the kick and threw a kick of his own, only to have it blocked by the sand "damn, im too slow" Naruto said as he backflipped to get out of Gaara's reach. Gaara laughed sadistically as he charged again at Naruto, who whipped out Kunai and threw them at Gaara only to have them harmlessly caught and then thrown back at him. Naruto evaded his own kunai by jumping up and cartwheeling to the side…right into Gaara's fist. Naruto's face flew into a tree about 5 feet away. Gaara laughed menacingly "You idiot…now…I will know I exist….I will taste your blood…" The sand whipped around Gaara moving toward Naruto, while Naruto struggled desperately to free himself "NO! DON'T KILL ME!" he screamed. The sand moved to within striking range only to be hit with shyruken. A blaze of white and yellow whizzed out of the trees, striking Gaara in the chest and in the head. Gaara fell to the ground dazed as the blurs materialized into two familiar female shinobi. "Kara…..Hinata…" Gaara said laughing as he got up, his eyes becoming bloodshot and his grin widening "Truly after this I will prove my existence!" he laughed manaically.

Hinata looked at Gaara terrified at what he had become "Gaara-kun….." she whispered. Kara moved infront of Hinata and said "Get Naruto out of the tree…I'll bring Gaara back to his senses…" Hinata nodded and started working with Naruto to get him out of the tree trunk. Gaara laughed evilly "You think you can stop me Katzchen? Hahahahah" he laughed while still looking at Kara. Kara shook her head "no I don't, but I know I can at least stall you till the others get out of here….Gaara….fight back to us….don't let shukaku out…please…I don't wanna hurt you…" Gaara's sand whipped out of control "DON'T EVER THREATEN US!" he said insanely obviously out of his right mind. Kara shook her head "I'm sorry Eragon…." She shifted her weight and got in fighting stance "but you leave me no choice…" she made the tiger seal with her right hand as she stretched her shadow out to Gaara's, Gaara jumped back and tossed sand shiruken out at her. Kara moved out of the way deftly but that disrupted her shadow control technique _damn if I cant concentrate then I cant win…_she thought as she jumped to the side and threw some punches at Gaara, only to have them blocked by the sand, which wrapped around her wrist and threw her into a tree. The tree fell down with a thud. Gaara laughed manaically "You're no match for me". Kara got up slowly, holding her left shoulder "Maybe not….but I am….you're….sister…"

Hinata froze _SISTER?_ She practically smacked herself for assuming that Kara was his old girlfriend. _I'm so stupid…_ she thought. Naruto wiggled in the tree "HINATA-SAMA! DON'T SPACE OUT ON ME! IF YOU DON'T GET ME OUT WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Hinata snapped back into reality and started to help Naruto get out struggling all for nothing. Hinata collapsed tired "Its no use, Naruto…." She said breathing heavily. There was distinctive crashes and sounds of battle as Gaara and Kara's battle continued on. Just as all hope was thought to be lost a sailing blur of gold came flying from the other side of the forest crashing through trees, the flash of gold crashed through the tree that Naruto was trapped in, snapping it in half. The blur was finally stopped by the rocky cliff that it cratered into.

When the gold faded, the beaten and bloodied body of Kara was were the gold had been. She was barely alive, shallowly breathing and bleeding profusely. Hinata gasped at the sight and Naruto dragged himself out of what had been the tree that had trapped him. "Kara…" he murmured softly. An errie maniacal laugh resounded in Hinata and Naruto's ears as a lone figure walked through the path of destruction which the beaten Kara had flown in from. Gaara laughed evilly again kicking aside a tree with his foot. "Now….who's next?" he grinned insanely.

"If I don't stop you now…..then no one will…." Naruto said softly as he got up from his kneeling position to face Gaara. Hinata looked on helplessly _either way….someone I care about gets hurt….Gaara…please….stop…_ her eyes threatened to spill over with fresh tears as she looked him over, seeing every inch of him seemingly transformed, muscles hardened, hair redder, eyes greener and blood shot. The change in him terrified her to the point of speechlessness. A flash of black entered to scene catching a sand shiruken in his hand that would have killed Naruto. The figure of Uchia Sasuke stood next to Naruto crumbling the sand in his hand "Watch yourself, Naruto….he's good…" he said with a smirk. Naruto seethed "SASUKE! STOP TRYING TO ACT COOL!" Gaara was getting impatient and started walking towards Sasuke and Naruto calmly. Sasuke whispered "Naruto, we have to work together if we are going to beat him…." Naruto nodded curtly and crossed his fingers in a cross formation infront of him "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUSTSU!" he yelled as ten shadow clones appeared. Sasuke made the tiger sign with his hands then the dragon sign, the crane sign "KATON GYURYU NO JUTSU!" he yelled as pure molten flames spat from Sasuke's mouth, the sand rose up from the ground blocking the attack. "you're going to have to do better than that" Gaara laughed.

Naruto, using Sasuke's distraction, used his shadow clones to attack Gaara. Three rushed in only to be caught by Sasuke's flames bursting into a puff of smoke, the others were quickly decimated by Gaara's sand writhing around him. Naruto fell back and coughed "Damn….it" he said softly as he sat up, and saw Sasuke's flames die. Sasuke breathed heavily as that attack drained a lot of his chakra, while Gaara laughed unscathed. "Come on….lets have some fun" he laughed. Naruto laughed and then charged Gaara, Gaara landed a solid punch in his gut making him disappear in a puff of smoke. Gaara was puzzled and wheeled around only to find part of his sand turn into the real Naruto _he used a transformation jutsu!_ Gaara realized too late as he felt the punch connect with his jaw sending him back a couple of feet.

Sasuke pounced on this opportunity and quickly made the symbols for his next attack _time to hit him hard…..dragon, crane, monkey, tiger…_ he thought as a ball of glowing crackling ball of blue light appeared in his right hand "CHIDORI!" he yelled as he charged the off balance Gaara and connected a solid chest hit on Gaara. Sasuke thought _YES! ITS OVER!_ The ball of blue energy exploded, blinding all in the area.

Hinata let a tear slip as she saw Sasuke's killer technique hit Gaara straight in the chest. Her emotions burst as she yelled "GAARA-KUN! NO!" she rushed out to the field to try and get Gaara only to be blinded by the blue light.

The color cleared, Sasuke's hand was fine, on the ground lay the body of Sabaku no Gaara, great sand shinobi, with a hole through his chest. Sasuke and Naruto laughed and slapped high fives "WE DID IT!" they both exclaimed. Naruto started dancing until he heard Hinata's sobs. Sasuke and Naruto looked to Hinata, who was holding Gaara's body close to her own, crying. "YOU MONSTERS!" she yelled furious with tears flowing down her cheeks "YOU KILLED HIM! WITHOUT REMORSE OR HESITATION…….you killed my Gaara-kun….." she sniffed sadly. Sasuke and Naruto started to feel guilty _man she knows how to pull a guilt trip….._ Just then Gaara's body turned dark brown and started falling in on itself crumbling to pieces. All three shinobi's were puzzled until sand hands snaked up from the ground around Naruto and Sasuke's legs enveloping them in a coffin of sand. A wave of sand rose from the ground revealing Gaara.

Hinata couldn't describe her feelings at that moment, both fear and excitement, both love and hate, and both confusion and knowledge. Her muscles froze as she saw his hands extend towards Sasuke and Naruto and realized what he was going to do. _NO! GAARA-KUN!_ She thought as she rushed out to the sand man.

Gaara laughed evilly "Sabaku..." he started and extended his hands to them "Kyu!" he was about to clench his hands only to find that a soft white hand was in both his own and before he knew it a pair of red lips pressed against his own. Emotion flooded Gaara's head sending him reeling backwards because of Hinata's kiss. Hinata didn't stop there, she pressed herself close to Gaara holding on to him lovingly "please don't do this….Gaara….please…" she whimpered as tears spilled over onto Gaara's black t-shirt. Gaara's hands lowered and the sand did likewise as his senses returned to him. He looked down at Hinata then to Sasuke and Naruto who had passed out from lack of air and at the bloodied Kara in the crater of a cliff. One thought ran through his mind, one which he had not thought in a LONG TIME… _oh…my God…what have I done?..._

-end-

THERE ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? HOPE SO CAUSE THAT WAS ONE LONG CHAPTER! JESUS CHRIST……anyways….well theres something for all my loyal fans. Till next chapter….


	7. Chapter 6: Regrets Repairs Relationships

Authors Note: Well here we go, its summer now so I might as well update! Sorry for the long wait its just meh my life is hectic as ive said before and well I don't have much time to sit and type out my stuff but Im making time to sate you readers' appetites. So enjoy and as always REVIEW.

Ch.6 Regrets, Repairs, and Relationships

The sun quietly hovered above the disaster area that had once been a quiet forest. Below, a bloody girl lay gasping for breath in a crater of solid rock, another girl was latched onto a red haired boy that seemed to have an aura of pain and danger. Furthermore there were two other guys lying next to each other unconscious from what appeared to be asphyxiation. This was a strange sight for the normal peaceful forest indeed. Gaara stood there calmly, his eye twitching in disbelief._ What have I done?_ He asked himself as he looked down to see Hinata clinging to him "Stop Gaara-kun….please…stop…" Gaara's shred of humanity would have cried if he hadn't cried out all of his tears so long ago. Gaara nodded "gomen….Hinata-sama….." he whispered as he felt himself pull her closer in a tight embrace. Just then there was a crackling of rocks and Kara weakly stood up from the crater "aw….how touching…" she managed a smirk then fainted. Gaara sighed and used his sand to pick up Kara before she hit the ground. He looked over to find Sasuke and Naruto unconsciously holding each other in their rest. Gaara snickered and reached into Hinata's back pocket (which made Hinata gasp and blush slightly) to grab her digitial camera. He aimed and fired the digital camera's beam which took the picture of Naruto and Sasuke_ This is golden…._Gaara thought as he put it back into Hinata's back pocket.

Gaara looked down at Hinata who was blushing from the way Gaara reached into her back pocket like that. Gaara was puzzled "Hinata-sama? What is wrong? Did I embarrass you?" he asked quietly in his monotone voice. Hinata shook her head "No…."she said quietly_ What Im blushing about is that I liked it……_she thought to herself. Gaara simply nodded "okay then, we have to get them home………" he let go of her and wrapped Kara, Sasuke and Naruto in separate cocoons of sand, keeping a hole open for air this time. "Come, Hinata-sama" he said calmly as he walked away into the sunset toward his house. Hinata could merely gulp as she watched him walk off and found herself thinking the first physical thought of her life_ he's so……mmm….I want him to…._she silenced her thoughts and shuddered with a smirk as she followed Gaara onward.

The Kazekage's palace was giant, however…….the abode with which he provided his son was equally as giant. Hinata's breath was stolen away as she saw the giant dwelling. "Gaara-kun….is this your house?" she murmured. Gaara nodded "Hai" he opened the door with a push of sand, the door creaked open slowly and finally opened all the way showing its marble halls and floors to all present……that were conscious. Hinata walked hurriedly behind Gaara, she was so dazed by the giant and luxurious conditions under which he lived that she wandered around confused. Gaara shut the door with a push of sand, the door slamming shut with a thundering BOOM. "Come Hinata-sama, I will show you your quarters" he said softly as he led her away.

Gaara laid down Naruto and Sasuke in the same bed but used his sand to arrange them in the spooning position with a snicker "I want to be around when they wake up…." He laughed to himself, Hinata couldn't help but laugh too. Finally they reached a room which had gold embroidered letters on the door which read "Kara Bentley". Gaara opened this one easily with his own hand, the door squeeked open and inside there was a bed with purple linen sheets and pillows with white sparkling carpet and various other royal items…….except one thing…..it stood out amoung the rest of the objects. A green patched up old and ratty backpack. Hinata was going to ask about it but then decided she didn't really want to know. Gaara unraveled Kara from her cocoon of sand and laid her in her bed. He walked over to her and kissed her head gentely "Goodnight sister" he said softly, his eyes softening but then going back to hard and tough. He walked out of the room as if nothing happened.

Hinata watched on in awe_ There is more to Gaara-kun…he can be sweet…maybe there is hope afterall..._ After Gaara walked out Hinata couldn't help but feel a ping of jealousy but then quelled it reassuring herself that Gaara would open up eventually. She followed the dangerous sand prince out of the room and down the hall. Gaara sighed and said "the guest room is right across from my room, if you need anything….you know where I am" he said opening the door for her with his sand. Hinata smiled a little and went foreward to hug Gaara. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him "Thank you Gaara-kun…..goodnight…" she kissed him on the cheek ignoring the burn of the sand that enveloped Gaara always. She walked inside of her room and heard the door click shut softly. Gaara sighed and opened his door with his sand and walked into his own gaping maw of a room.

Hinata sighed softly feeling the warmth that kissing Gaara had given her on the inside. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped. Before her own eyes was the single most beautiful room she had ever laid eyes upon. She wandered around looking for the goddess that lived here but finding no one she herself examined the room. She noticed the sparkling white carpet that felt soft as rabbit pelts beneath your feet, she rubbed her hands on the cream colored silk sheets of her bed, she let her hands splay across the ivory bathroom. She marveled at the lighting, it was unique in that it was completely candle based lighting. She noticed a door on the other side of the room with crystal knobs and pure glass body. She pulled on it and is softly opened, she stepped out and found that she had her own personal balcony. She looked up to the desert night sky letting her eyes feast upon the constellations and the stars that played out against the black sky._ Gaara-kun….thank you…_she thought. Little did she notice that on the door of her room, it did not say "Guest Quarters" but instead it said "Princess Quarters".

Gaara slipped inside his dark hole of a room. There was little to no light, and what light was there was provided by candles as well. Gaara sighed seeing the familiar black silk bed covers, black satin window covers and black soft as silk carpet. He looked at himself in the mirror of his ivory bathroom and browsed his library of dark novels and forbidden books. Tired of reading, he turned on his stereo which played Godsmack "I Stand Alone". He set it to random which cycled through Symphony X, Linkin Park, God Smack, Limp Bizcut, and Nickel Back. He sighed as he opened his door on the other side of the room and stepped out onto his personal balcony. He looked up onto the heavens and asked the same question he did everyday "Why?" and as usual……there was no response. He went inside dejectedly and laid down on his bed trying to drift off to sleep, and he almost gave up sleeping until he heard a loud but unmistakable voice yell "AGGH! SASUKE? I DIDN'T WANT MY FIRST TIME TO BE WITH YOU!" followed by another voice "NARUTO! NO! YOU IDIOT!" then there was an assorted series of thumps and crashes from the fight that surely ensued. Gaara let out his first real and heartfelt laugh_ This maybe the best night of my life…_he thought as he fell asleep to the rhythmic thumping and yelling of Naruto and Sasuke fighting.

---end----

Well there you go, hope you all like it. Until next time…….


	8. Chapter 7: Dreams, Music, and Pain

Ch.7: Dreams, Music, Pain

Disclaimer: Look I don't own any of Naruto nor do I own any of slipknot's lyrics I use here.

It is said that the mind is its own realm, a bubble in reality if you will, in this bubble lies a red haired, green eyed teenager. Outside of this bubble there is nothingness, white nothingness of pain. Sabaku no Gaara lies in this bubble alone. The white ate at him since he was little, it ate everything he was, everything he could ever be. He learned to build up a wall between himself and the white but eventually the white would wash over his walls, slowly erode them like the tide. The pain eats Gaara and now Gaara eats the pain back. He eats the white, welcomes it. He welcomes the pain, the memories, the hurt, and the hate. The White is powerful, and by eating the white, Gaara became powerful. Inside this bubble music blares, light dies, and darkness rules.

_I felt the Hate rise up inside of me_

_Kneel down and clear the stones and leaves_

_I wander round where you cant see_

_Inside my shell I wait and bleed_

The crimson haired sand warrior wakes inside his bubble, aware and alert. _Some one is here…_he thinks to himself as he reaches out with his senses feeling the cold of the AC unit wash over him, the clatter of Kara fixing breakfast, the chatter between Hinata and Kara, the akward silence between Sasuke and Naruto and the echoing pain of himself. _Something is amiss…_he thinks as his sand raises to defend him only to find that nothing is there, no attack, no body, no blood. Gaara swiftly dresses himself with his sand as blue jeans, a black shirt, his blood red royal sash and finally his Hidden Village of The Sand dog tag appears on him. _I feel…strange…almost as if…_ "you were being watched?" a voice asks laughing from the darkness.

Gaara was not alarmed nor afraid. "Almost as if someone were trying to spy on me….and failing miserably" he said in a stone cold tone. The feminine figure in the darkness laughed a little as she disappeared "later…handsome" she smirked and vanished into the darkness.

Gaara shrugged and walked outside on the balcony feeling the breeze on his clothes and hair. Just then Kara burst into his bubble, bringing him back into 'reality' "MORNING GAARA!" she ran in from the door glomping Gaara. Gaara's eyes narrowed "get off" he said distinctly as sand whirled around him forcing Kara off of him roughly. He stood up slowly and said in a monotone voice "Im going out" he disappeared in a cloud of sand and reappeared at the ground level just under the balcony. He walked down the path that appealed to him the most, the one that lead into the dark forest. Kara shouted after him "BROTHER! GET BACK HERE!" Gaara paid her no attention and continued walking until her voice faded into the backround.

The forest seemed to engulf him as he walked on seemingly entranced, never questioning where he was going. Soon the trees started getting bigger and thicker as he went on till he started making out crude dwellings in the trees. Furthermore, he could feel the resident's hate for him and their killing intent. He looked around boredly till he got to the town center. "you all can come out now, I sense you" he said in his calm monotone that even unnerved Kazekage.

People shifted out of the darkness, masculine, and feminine all wearing standard army gear. "Sabaku no Gaara!" a voice rang out from the crowd "you have been led here by our entrancement jutsu to answer for your crimes against humanity. We hereby find you guilty of inhumanity and sentence you to…"he let his words hang in midair "Death". Gaara looked around for him and instead of acting emotionless or penitent he did one thing the village did not expect him to do…..he laughed. He laughed fully and heartily. The village was mortified and the leader spoke up again "Sabaku no Gaara! You are a monster that needs to be destroyed! Do not mask you fear from us! For we know all who reside in Darkness we are THE HIDDEN VILLAGE OF SHADOWS!" The crowd of villagers cheered at the proclamation. Gaara's green eyes cracked with blood shot streaks and sand rose around him as he continued laughing then calmed down.

"you fools...I am a monster……I know this……..I embrace this……and you…intend to kill me?" he snickered evilly as he looked directly into the leader's eyes "is that what you intend to do?" The leader nodded seriously. Gaara laughed "you poor poor fool….you cannot kill me…." The leader huffed "why not? Aren't you a little arrogant for being surrounded by the best ninja's our village has to offer?" Gaara looked at him as he clutched his chest feeling the pain of his broken heart, the pain only lending him more strength "I would be arrogant……..except……"his blood shot eyes narrowed as he said "you cannot kill…….what is already dead" he said as he grabbed the nearest ninja with his sand and crushed him with his sand.

"Ive been dead inside since I was young, killing me on the outside would be a blessing" he said seriously as the ninjas immediately were demoralized by fear. "now I invite you to join me……in death" he said as he grabbed ninja after ninja that jumped trying to attack him, crushing them with his sand. Sand whipped around him blocking shiruken and jutsu's alike. With a giant push of sand Gaara flung all the remaining ninja's back charging towards the leader. He did a jump in the air twisting half way and grabbing the leaders neck "now die" he said menacingly as he twisted and twisted back snapping the leaders neck. With a gurgling sound the leader fell down dead. Gaara landed neatly on the otherside of him and stretched out his hand "come" he said as the ninjas looked at him fearfully and ran. Gaara narrowed his eyes and started chasing them down, except he was blocked by the feminine form he had seen earlier.

"you are indeed strong as my father had predicted…."she looked to the corpse that had been the leader "unluckily for him……it seems he underestimated you…." She assumed fighting stance "a mistake I will not make". She said deadily. She glowed black and purple with energy as a dark scar on her forehead spat black flames all over her body. "its time I ended you, monster". She jumped and threw a kick that was blocked by sand, she then used that momentum to backflip and throw a punch the was also caught by the sand _How am I supposed to beat him?_ She thought panicking as her incisor teeth lengthened to vampiric size. _He may be strong…but I don't think strong enough to survive the curse…if I am right, the monster will be dealt with and I will reign my village supreme….if I am wrong…I will only have made him stronger…_she continued her flurry of attacks buying her time to think.

Gaara's sand was busy blocking her attacks and Gaara's narrowed blood shot eyes watched her lithe form gracefully pulling off combos of attacks that few could ever hope to. _This girl is a formidable fighter….and a graceful one at that…such grace, power and beauty…animalistic anger, lust and rage fuel her…she is not unlike myself…_ he thought as he finally decided to end the fight. He grabbed the side of her arm and redirected her punch allowing him to punch her firmly in the stomach. She buckled over his shoulder in pain.

_This may be my only chance…_she thought as she sunk her vampiric teeth into his neck implanting the curse of shadows into him. Gaara's eyes widened and his mouth opened in pain as black chakra shot through his veins. He let her go and stood, eating the pain that the blackness was just as he had done to the white. A black scar appeared in the place she had bitten him it looked like swirled lighting. The girl panted frustratedly "does ANYTHING AFFECT YOU!" she yelled as she backed up afraid. Gaara looked at her in the eyes "it once did" he said softly. The girl saw in his eyes pain, anger, hopelessness and at the core goodness and gasped _such depth….ive lost…_Gaara surrounded her in a coffin of sand and stretched out his hand "sabaku…" The girl shouted out "WAIT!" the black chakra burst through his coffin as she fell to her knees.

The black flames went back into her scar on her forehead which then disappeared. "my name is Kismet Kytomi….and I yield…"he said softly looking to the ground "you have bested me…."she spat angry at herself "my life for yours…" she said softly "you are stronger than me……and I have nothing else to offer….it is as I feared…..my life….for yours…"she then collapsed out cold. Gaara grunted and fell to a knee clutching the place on his neck where she had bitten him. "I…am…tired…" he said softly as he saw a dash of green camo.

Kara watched the whole thing amazed as she dashed down to catch Gaara as he fell. _No one has ever made Gaara fall…who is this girl…_ she thought as she scooped them both up and dashed off to Gaara's palace.

---End---

Authors Note: Yeah I know, ANOTHER CHARACTER. But I swear this is the last one! Lol anyways, hope you like it. As always leave me reviews!


	9. Chapter 8: Hell Hath No Fury

Chapter 8: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but all my OC's are MINE AND MINE ALONE!

Author's Note: Look I know some of you were confused and It seemed like it was a rushed chapter, well it was. I was typing it at my work and I only had an hour. I'll make up for it lol.

A red haired girl lay in the medical room in Gaara's not so small house. The red haired sand warrior lay next to her in a separate bed. The room was hushed as a particular white clothed blue eyed Hyuuga held Gaara's hand. _Gaara-kun….why…why do so many girls like you…why cant you just be mine?_ She sighed as she looked over to the red haired girl that had given Gaara that weird looking mark on his neck. Her eyes narrowed as a realization dawned on her normally completely innocent mind _That mark she left better not be a hickey…_

Sasuke and Naruto were busy in their own worlds fantasizing over the new girl's body. Naruto showed it openly with his drool and spaced out face whereas Sasuke continued to act what passed for normal around Sasuke. Sakura and Ino had arrived to stay with Gaara a few days ago and Kara, begrudgingly, allowed them to stay because they were concerned for her brother. Sakura beaned Naruto over the head with a frying pan with a shocked expression on her face "NARUTO! DON'T STARE LIKE THAT ITS DISRESPECTFUL!" Naruto immediately slammed face first into the floor and got up with tears streaming down his face "Sakura-chan why did you have to hit me right at the best moment in my daydream?" he asked. Sakura's eyes narrowed and she let out a cry of infuriation at Naruto's impudence. Naruto had seen that look on her face before and immediately knew……..it was time to run. "uh errr…I mean…bye Sakura-chan!" he got up and dashed out of the room with Sakura on his trail still with the frying pan "GET BACK HERE NARUTO!" she yelled chasing him.

Sasuke shook his head chuckling a little _back to same old same old_ he thought as he continued to dream about that new girl. He looked over her, _that face…so smooth…those lips…gah…gotta fight it…_Sasuke thought as he struggled to maintain his self-control. His eyes wandered over her again looking at the pure green tube top she was wearing along with her short solid black skirt. Her lithe figure was almost too much for ANY guy to not stare at and lose it. Sasuke felt his jeans start to get tighter around his waist and immediately left the room in a hurry to go relieve himself.

Hinata still held Gaara's hand while Ino bantered on and on about some mundane pop song she loved meanwhile slowly inching her hand towards Gaara's other hand. Hinata looked at Ino and swore that she would not lose HER Gaara to a slut like Ino. Ino grabbed Gaara's other hand. Hinata growled a little and Ino growled back. You could almost see the daggers that their eyes were shooting at each other. Ino was about to say something nasty when Sakura came into the room, having clubbed penitence from Naruto with her frying pan. She saw the stare down and thought _Oh no…Gaara is mine…no they don't.._ she saw that both hands were taken so she smirked to herself and climbed onto the passed out Gaara, straddling him at his waist. Ino and Hinata looked up at the new threat to their conquests. If things in there had been anymore electrified there would have been lightning.

Kara, her girl senses sensing a conflict over a guy was about to occur rushed from the kitchen to the guest room being used as a medical room. She burst through the door her brown hair dangling around her head loosely. Her eyes swept over the scene spying each girl readying their nails while growling at each other "OH NO YOU DON'T!" she said as she jumped and kicked Hinata off her stool with one kick to the face and sprung off of Hinata's face to kick Ino off her stool, then in mid-flip she landed a punch on Sakura, demounting her off of Gaara. Kara landed perfectly with gymnast-like grace. "none of you can have Gaara, he's my brother and I say who's good enough to have him" she said protectively. "even if I have to fight you all to protect him for you girls who will just hurt him in the end." She said getting into fighting stance.

Hinata growled, her normally passive nature was taken over by her new sense of ownership over Gaara and her newly active hormones, she got up off the ground and got into fighting stance "fine by me" she said softly. Ino got up dusting off her knees and shoulders as they were uncovered by her tight black tank top and tight black miniskirt "I'll fight you" she said smirking as she got into fighting stance. Sakura shook her head to clear it. _In the beginning I only did this to beat Ino…but…I could actually…like Gaara…maybe I should…fight…but…I gotta choose…fight…or…flight._ She chewed on her tongue thoughtfully still unsure of what to do but then that familiar white chalk drawing of her spoke up _FIGHT! YOU CAN HAVE ANY GUY YOU CAN CHOOSE!FIGHT! SHOW GAARA YOURE MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE!_ Sakura nodded and smiled getting up into fighting stance "alright…then….im in too". All the girls were in stance and were gathering chakra to themselves about to have the fight in the med room….when a silky sultry voice spoke up "aww…how perfectly pathetic…"

All the girls turned to see the sexy form of Kismet rise from the bed completely healed and worse yet….she had a smirk on her face. Kismet adjusted her tube top a little and laughed at them "you're all so concerned about who gets Gaara when its too obvious whose his woman." The other girls were perplexed "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" they yelled in unison. Kismet shuddered under their voices "just look over at your sweet little Gaara-kun and you'll see" she snickered as all the girls turned to the form of Gaara and let out a collective gasp.

There on the medical bed lay Gaara, only his sand was ALL in his gourd on the other side of the room as if hiding from something and worse yet, Gaara's mark was shifting. Kismet laughed "well…looks like he's one of the lucky 1 out of 10…"she said as the girls were still confused. Gaara's mark spat black lightning bolts all over Gaara's body as a black/violet chakra started to eminate from him. Kara looked at Kismet with a scowl "what did you do to him when you bit him?" she demanded. Hinata's eyes widened "IT WAS A HICKEY!" she screamed as she huffed towards Kismet. Kismet laughed harder "no stupid! I gave him the Cursed Seal in a last ditch effort to kill him….you see…only one out of ten people survive getting the Cursed Seal…so I had hoped to beat him that way….but…looks like ive only made him stronger if that was even possible." She said enamored with the amount of raw power pouring off of Gaara right now. Kara narrowed her eyes at Kismet and spoke icily "so what? What does this have to do with whose man he is?" she asked. Kismet laughed with a hint of evil or it could have just been a lot of mischeiviousness "watch…."

Gaara groaned as his eyes fluttered open but instead of his normal green eyes they were his Shukaku eyes. He roared as sand flew to him except as soon as it hit him, it turned to black sand whirling menacingly around him. Kismet licked her lips in anticipation "Gaara-kun….." she whispered seductively as she switched her hips as she walked towards him, seemingly becoming an avatar of lust. Sukaku-Gaara looked at her and roared as sand rushed out to kill her as it wrapped around her cutting her and suffocating her, but instead of the scream Shukaku-Gaara wanted to hear, a cry of pleasure rose from her as the pain spread through her. This puzzled Shukaku-Gaara as he released her from his grasp, not wanting to cause her pleasure. Kismet continued to walk towards him sexily taking whatever he threw at her and moaning in pleasure as the pain wracked her body. Her Cursed Seal activated spitting black flames across her body giving her a sort of dark beauty as she curled up next to Shukaku-Gaara calming his every lashout with a gentle tip of her finger. She continued this until she tapped his mouth with her finger and he stopped roaring and started………purring. Kismet giggled as Shukaku-Gaara curled up to her and let her play with his hair. The girls watched on, their eyes GREEN with jealousy. Eventually Shukaku-Gaara's eyes closed and he went back to sleep, his mark sucking all of the black lightning into it again. Kismet looked at them "isn't it obvious?" she grinned lustily and climbed off of his bed "he's mine."

Sasuke and Naruto walked down the hall silently both still on the high of what they had just done to get the picture of Kismet out of their heads. They walked into the medical room hoping to get another glimpse of her while she was asleep only to find all of the girls at each other's throats. Sasuke knew who they were fighting for and shrugged to himself _its obvious…they all want me…well I'll just have to have them fight for supremacy.. _he thought to himself. At the same time Naruto thought he knew what they were fighting about _YES! NARUTO YOU JUST HIT THE JACK POT! Six girls fighting for who gets to lay you first…this is the best day of your life…so sit here and watch the cat fight._

Kismet's eyes seemed to stare right into the hearts of all the girls. She started to go around the room with what she thought of them. She looked at Kara "over protective, snobbish and strong physically…" she moved on to Sakura "weak, controlling, over inflated opinion of yourself" she moved on to Hinata "quiet to a fault, sweet at heart, too afraid to lose anyone she lets close, surprisingly strong." She said softly as she moved on to Ino and narrowed her eyes "slut" was all she said. The girls said nothing until Kara broke the silence "lets go…battle royal…who ever wins decides who gets Gaara." She said preparing herself. Just then Gaara stirred and woke up "what are you all doing in my room?" he asked with a growl evidently back to normal….or whatever normal was for Gaara. All the girls whistled innocently and walked out of the room. As soon as they were out Kara said "we finish this on the tennis courts, last one there has to kiss Naruto!" she said as she disappeared in a flash of shadow.

Sasuke dashed off to the tennis courts to watch the cat fight. Gaara got out of bed sleepily to find Naruto sitting at the door "what is it Naruto?" he asked icily. Naruto said "giant cat fight on the tennis courts! Come on!" Even Gaara loved catfights so he disappeared in a flash of sand, reappearing at the Tennis courts next to Sasuke. "bright day" he said boredly as he watched the girls warm up. Sasuke nodded "too bright". Naruto rushed up to them and slapped them both on the back with his hands "HEY!" he said still in his cheery mood. Both Sasuke and Gaara growled as Naruto removed his hands. Naruto smirked and said "hey you guys wanna make this a little more…..interesting?" he asked. Gaara cocked an eyebrow "that's the first good idea ive heard come out of your mouth." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle "alright, what did you have in mind?" Gaara looked at Sasuke and Naruto "look here's the deal, you bet on one girl and if that girl wins then he will get to ask the two losers to do one rule free thing for them, and you CANNOT back out of it if you lose." He said narrowing his eyes "that's the rules" Naruto and Sasuke nodded "we give our words as Shinobi." Gaara nodded "good…now place your bets gentlemen."

The wind blew across the double tennis court fluttering skirts and shirts alike. Hinata basked in the wind as she removed her heavy modest outer clothing to reveal her sports bra and tight workout shorts. She had on a eye of the tiger look that said she was going to fight to the end for her Gaara. _This is it Hinata…do it just like Neji taught you…you can DO THIS!_ She pumped her fist in the air showing she was ready. Ino didn't remove any clothes because she was already wearing so little but the wind did flutter her miniskirt blowing it up while she was bending down, the wind revealed her black lace thong that all three guys immediately stared at. She smirked and pushed it down a little until the wind died down. _Its simple Ino, all you have to do is take control of Kismet and then use her to beat up on the other ones…should be easy enough…_she thought smirking. Kara was wearing a tight blue sweat suit and was stretching out for the fight. _Simple, use shadow manipulation to force the other girls to stand still while I pummel them with my fists….then I can make sure Gaara NEVER gets hurt again._ She thought as she nodded to herself. She was ready. Sakura was wearing tight pink workout shorts and a tight pink sports bra. She thought to herself _simple…use kunai…and plant traps…then hide behind competitors...simple…at least…I think so_ she was slightly ready. Finally Kismet was still wearing her green tube top and her black miniskirt, she simply lazed by the fountain not worried at all about her 'competition' _their all weaklings, I have Gaara in the bag…and tonight I'll have him in the sleeping bag to be more specific_ she smirked totally ready.

The wind blew Naruto's hair around a little as he put a hand on his chin thinking about which one to bet on. _Hmm…Sakura-chan…no…Hinata-sama…no…Kara-chan…no…Ino-chan? thong…yes…must…bet…on…thong._ His 'thoughts' were interrupted by Gaara who said boredly "wow that thing that you do with your hand on your chin….it creates the illusion that you're thinking" he said poking fun at Naruto. Sasuke laughed and Naruto growled "I was thinking, and I'm gonna bet on thong-chan…err..I mean Ino-chan." He said scratching his head self-consciously thinking. Sasuke shook his head "alright, your funeral, Im going to bet on Kismet-chan." He said softly. Gaara nodded and said "and I bet on Hinata-sama." Both Naruto and Sasuke burst out laughing. Naruto said "now who's not thinking? Everyone knows Hinata-sama doesn't fight." Gaara shrugged "maybe, but I think she is going to win….no….I know she is going to win." He said totally confident. This shocked Naruto and Sasuke "we'll see Gaara…we'll see…" They all shut up the trash talk and turned to watch the fight.

(Authors Note: this battle is best when listening to J-E-N-O-V-A on the FF7 Advent Children soundtrack, just thought I'd let you know what battle music it was using.)

All the girls got in a circle, all ready to fight for what they thought should be theirs, all ready to use any means necessary to force each other into submission. Kara stated the rules in her harsh demanding leader tone "if you get knocked out, you lose, if you get thrown over the fence that surrounds us then you lose. Anything else is legal, GO!" she yelled as she jumped into the air kicking Ino in the face "slutty bitch!" she yelled and was about to follow up with another hit and another insult only to be punched in the stomach by Kismet "stuck up whore!" she yelled as she then used her right leg to kick her up in the air. Kismet then jumped up only to be tackled by Hinata "stripper" she said growling as she jumped up before Kismet hit the floor then planted her feet into Kismet's stomach and back flipped. Kismet got up only to get a arm full of shiruken from Sakura's trap, she fell back bloodied now. "stupid virgin" kismet said as she rolled to the side and kicked Hinata into the fence which cut her. Sakura jumped on Ino's back and grabbed her blonde hair "bitch! Damn whore!" she yelled as she threw Ino by her hair, making sure a clump came out. Ino flew into a kick from Kismet which sent her over the fence, where she landed on the ground with a thud. The rest of the girls only thought one thing _one down…five to go…_

Naruto winced as he heard Ino land with a thud "damn their viscious" Naruto said in awe. Sasuke nodded "its hot" he said watching the girls tear each other to shreds. Gaara chuckled "I'm enjoying this….and it looks like you lose Naruto…." He looked to Sasuke, his red hair blowing in the wind "your girl's next" he said softly as he looked on to the fight.

Sakura's pink hair danced in the wind of her movements, she dodged, replaced and diverted all attacks being thrown at her _I'm actually doing this!_ She thought as she landed on the ground and started another trap seeing that Kara and Kismet were busy duking it out. She crossed some trip line and shiruken she brought with her formulating a classic trip line that, when triggered, would give the victim a back full of shiruken and then a swift log to the behind sending them over the fence. She smirked and finished it admiring her own cunning _Ive got this in the bag_ she thought as a swift kick sent her over her own trip wire _oh shit…_she thought as she turned to see Hinata with her leg still outstretched, something had changed about her, something in her had awakened and made least when Gaara was involved. She realized too late that the shiruken were coming for her, she grimaced as the knives filled her back and the log….didn't come. The trap had broken under the stress _at least im still in it…_she thought but then she saw Hinata's face as she grabbed Sakura by the arm, and hair pulling her towards her "GAARA IS MINE!" she said deathly serious as she rolled back and planted her foot in Sakura's back pushing the knives further in until she let go still rolling, releasing Sakura with all of her rolling momentum, sending her over the fence landing next to Ino with a Thud. Ino chuckled morosely "I may…lose…but at least….you….dont…win" she said weakly before passing out. Sakura didn't have the energy to be mad…she was so tired…..so tired….so she passed out.

Naruto gasped at seeing Sakura fly like that "holy crap…" Sasuke stared in shock "Hinata…." He said. Gaara merely smirked "told you" he said quietly as he watched the battle. _I'm only concerned about Kismet…I don't think Hinata's going to have such an easy time with her…_

Hinata stopped to take a breather just in time to see Kismet glowing with her black/violet aura kick Kara in the side with a distinct crack one of her ribs broke. Kara winced and fell to the ground inside the fence. Kismet went in for the kill with a flying side kick only to be hit with Hinata's punch right in her solar plexus. Kismet went flying into the fence and grunted. Hinata's hand was still glowing with blue chakra from the blow. Kismet growled "weakling, I'll show you!" she charged landing a kick on Hinata, who then went with the kick and circled around Kismet, her hands glowing blue with her chakra. She punched all the chakra let out points in her back sending her back a couple of feet. Kismet panted realizing the drain on her Cursed Seal Chakra "So that's what your doing you little wench!" she snarled as she charged again. Hinata looked to Gaara and Gaara merely nodded as a smile, a genuine smile, crossed his lips. Hinata sucked in a breath and concentrated. The world blacked out before her and a green neon yin yang appeared under her as she opened her byakugan eyes. Kismet seemed to be moving in slow motion as all of her functional chakra points seemed to light up for Hinata. She made the tiger seal with her hand and said slowly "Guardian of the Eight Seals of Divination 64 Strikes!" she yelled as he hit Kismet twice "two strikes!" she hit her 4 times "four strikes!" she hit her sixteen times "16 strikes!" she hit her thirty two times "32 strikes!" blood came out of Kismet's mouth as she reeled away in shock from the blows. Hinata followed up "64 strikes!" she yelled as she hit her 64 times. Kismet's eyes rolled up into her sockets as hinata kicked her up into the air and followed up with another kick sending her over the fence landing next to Sakura and Ino in a crater. She relaxed and turned to face Kara who stood weakly, smiled….and then collapsed unconscious. Hinata smiled as she heard the slow clap of a red haired sand warrior and the moan of one black haired Uchia. Hinata sat down and went to sleep tired from the fight. Gaara looked to Naruto and Sasuke "game, set, and match" he said nonchalantly "and you know the terms of the bet…" Naruto and Sasuke nodded glumly. Gaara smirked and said "you know what that means?" They shook their heads sullenly. Gaara snickered and pulled out his digital camera "its picture time, boys" Naruto and Sasuke looked up to the sky and yelled "NOO!"

---end----


	10. Chapter 9: Pictures, Pancakes,Professors

Ch 9: Pictures, Pancakes, and Professors

Author's Note: For those slow learners out there I'll say it outloud if you haven't caught on by the updates schedule of late. I plan on updating at least once every two days. There I've said it, and please leave some reviews if you read this, your input is greatly appreciated. Also feel free to tell me what your expecting to happen or what you guessed would happen, it's a good thing . Also, if you get offended at some of the references tell me and I'll raise the rating, also it may change for a chapter because the person that Kismet is based upon is advocating a lemon be done for a couple of pairing, in which case cast your votes in your reviews for that, I wont be writing it cause I cant write those. Most likely Kismet will be writing them cause she's good at that stuff. Well that's it for this author's note, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters, just my OC's.

Giggles erupted from the medical room where all of the girls were resting up and healing from their fight earlier that day. Another fit of laughter as girls wearing all sorts of casts and other healing equipment huddled around Kara who had managed to sweet talk the new pictured of Naruto and Sasuke from Gaara, an impressive feat to say the least. "Oh my God Gaara is evil!" Kismet squealed from the middle of the pile, evidently already accepted as part of the pack. The picture she was holding was of Sasuke in his red satin boxers with Naruto in orange boxers posing as a gay couple, both looked like they would kill the person who was looking at the picture. They all laughed once more as they switched to the next photo which was on Naruto being hand cuffed to the bed by Sasuke. Kismet smirked "that's hot" she said grinding her legs together. They sifted through the pictures of various mock positions between Sasuke and Naruto until they got to a picture of Sasuke with a t-shirt and bright orange spandex with mock slits on his wrists. At the bottom of the picture there was a caption in typical Superman style that said "Captain Emo-boy" They all cracked up until they got to the next photo which unleashed all of their laughter plus more as it had another caption "and his sidekick….The biatch-boy" it showed Captain Emo-boy holding a leash and at the other end of the leash on all fours, sat Naruto, looking like he was going to go kill himself after this, he was wearing a silver jumpsuit with a gold cape and a bitch gag over his mouth. The girls sounded as if they were going to laugh up a lung. When the laughter was over they put away the pictures and went back to their respective beds.

As dark crept upon the house of Gaara, the girls one by one turned in for the night exhausted from the fight. Sakura smiled in her bed, the dark was soothing to her as she nursed her own wounds _I would never have thought...that Hinata would be the one to win…_she looked over to Hinata's bed where the girl was still sleeping. _She really did give it her all…I respect you Hinata-sama_ she thought watching the peaceful girl sleep.

_Why am I so weak?_ Ino thought as she softly curled up inside her cocoon of blankets on the bed. _Why doesn't Gaara-kun even look at me anymore? _She sniffed _The girls call me a slut but…I thought that's what guys wanted…now I just feel used…and alone…_ she sniffed sadly and curled up once more to fall asleep. _I don't know what to do anymore…I just don't know…_

_Damn that Kismet, she broke one of my ribs! GRR!_ Kara thought grimacing as she tossed and turned in her sleep _she thinks she can just waltz in here and seduce Gaara? Bah! Gaara is tougher than that and…she's not safe for him…I still fear what would happen if he ever got seriously involved with one of these girls…and they were to break his heart again…_she shuddered _the deaths would be worse by at least 200 this time…and what's worse is that I couldn't stop him, I can't let any girl near him, I just can't let them turn my brother into a monster again…I just can't…and poor Hinata…she doesn't even know what she's getting into…she doesn't know what type of horror's my brother is capable of wreaking…she's so innocent and pure…I don't have the heart to tell her that she's in love with a monster…_

Kismet sat up on her bed too awake to sleep _This place is different than my home village…it's different…like…peaceful almost…its like something tangible in the air here. Something about these people and the way they act, they may not admit it but over however long they've been together they have become best friends…and after only a couple of days here, I'm already accepted…that's..so…weird. _she huffed as she laid down and tussled around trying to get to sleep knowing that tomorrow she would either be in school or alone here. _And this Prince Gaara…there's more to him than anyone here suspects…he is so harsh on the outside but yet…he lets us stay here for the weekend…and he spared my life…those two things contradict themselves…he's hiding something from us all…maybe he's hiding himself from all of us…who knows…_her eyes opened slowly when she came to the realization _Kara…Kara would know…_ she smirked resolving to get to the bottom of this Gaara. Her thoughts subsided and she fell into a deep sleep.

Hinata slept just as she always did, peacefully in sweet dreams. She had Dreams of marriage, dreams of happiness, dreams of love and dreams of the future. She smiled softly in her sleep as she dreamed. Her thoughts undisturbed, her wounds healing, and her pride swelling from making Gaara smile and secretly for beating the other girls. She knew deep inside her that she was attracted to Gaara and that she would probably do most anything to make him notice her…..ALMOST anything…she still had her standards. But for the here and now, things were just peachy, so she slept.

Naruto sat in his room drinking with Sasuke both of them trying to forget the ridiculous things they had done lately because of the bet they had made with Gaara. Naruto downed his glass in one gulp "damn it, I don't ever want to remember this day again" he said as he reached for the bottle of Vodka. Sasuke beat him there and poured himself another glass "same here, never again…." He handed Naruto the bottle and proceeded to down his own glass again. They were not new to drinking, they had started since they arrived here and by now they knew how to hold their liquor….or so they thought. Sasuke sighed and said "I can't believe he won that damn bet…..we gotta get technical…we cannever do that again Naruto, I wont pose for another photo that will probably come to haunt me sometime in the future. We have to get lawyer speak, we have to fine line him….its the only way…" Sasuke said as he downed his glass and put his head on the table. Naruto nodded and said "Sasuke, why lawyer speak?" he asked perplexed. Sasuke motioned for Naruto to pour him another glass, Naruto nodded and smirked as he poured him a glass of pure Everclear. Sasuke put his head up and said "Cause when you deal with the devil………you gotta learn to dance around the flames." He said as he tried to drink the glass Naruto gave him but spat it out "Naruto, even though you could have killed me right there, I think I need to tell you something….even though I used to think of you as an annoyance and a liability in a fight…Now that I've to know you, its hard for me to say it, but you've become my best friend…." Naruto laughed and fell off his seat "yeah, well even though I used to think you were a stuck up emo kid, now that I've spent some time with you, you've become my best friend as well…" _my first friend…Sasuke…who'd have thought it? _he said as he fell asleep on the floor passed out. Sasuke fell back on his bed and fell immediately to sleep hoping the liquor would do its job and make them forget this entire weekend.

Gaara sat on top of the roof of his house looking up at the stars quietly, he didn't sleep much. He took a drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke out of his nose. "Quiet night" he said to himself "nights like these are when you want to just stay out here." He turned to face the moon and took another drag thoughtfully. _Today was a good day……and I don't have many of those. I wonder what we do tomorrow in school…not that I like it…_he thought softly. A shooting star shot across the sky _hmm, I wish that I could have more of these peaceful nights…_he thought as he stood up and flicked his cigarette over the edge of his roof and climbed back into his window. He softly floated to his bed on a disk of sand. _Time to sleep…_he closed his eyes and started to float off to dreamland.

Normally all would have been sleeping quite peacefully if they all hadn't had a notion that they were all forgetting something, something important. Around 3 am all the students except for Kismet awoke with blood shot eyes and hurried breath as they realized what they had forgotten. One thought raced through their minds _I FORGOT ABOUT THE TEST TODAY!_

All the students rushed out of bed, got dressed and ran down the stairs….well almost all of them ran down the stairs…."AGGHH!" Naruto screamed as he fell down three flights of stairs thumpthumpthumpthumpthump Kara made pot after pot of coffee to keep everyone awake as they all hurriedly studied their book on ninja fighting techniques and quizzed each other. Kara made pancakes hurriedly but they still turned out well while Gaara quizzed her. This system of quizzing each other worked well….except for Naruto and Sasuke whose words were slurred from the Vodka not wearing off yet. The seven students hurried to the car and all piled into the Jaguar somehow that involved strapping Naruto to the roof of the car with duct tape. Gaara floored it, lucky he had killed the policeman whose job it was to patrol this sector early on.

The students quickly ran out of the car as Gaara locked it remotely and dashed off to their classes. Sasuke and Sakura paired off and held the doors open as Hinata and Kara dashed in. They then followed them into the classroom taking their appropriate seats. Gaara appeared in a flash of sand in his seat. Kara looked around "yes, everyone's here and we still got two minutes before the bell rings!" she smiled but then frowned at the silence where a certain obnoxious shinobi would usually interject. "Wait…where's Naruto?" she asked. They all looked out the window at the same time to see the Orange clothed ninja screaming still duct taped on top of the car "SASUKE! GAARA! HINATA-SAMA! SOMEBODY?". They all laughed but then realized that the bell was going to ring in one minute "oh damn! no one here is fast enough for that!" she exclaimed worried that they would be at fault for making Naruto get detention. Suddenly a bored voice spoke up "I'll go" Gaara said to everyone's surprise as he disappeared in a flash of sand. The others looked out the window and saw a flash of sand as Gaara quickly grabbed Naruto and disappeared again. Appearing in a flash of sand just as the bell rang, Gaara and Naruto landed in their seats. Gaara acted like nothing had happened and appeared to be fine, but the others looked over to Naruto and found him duct taped to his chair with an added item, a gag made from duct tape. Kara laughed and thought _so…he's finally opening up…I didn't think I'd live to see the day…_

Right on time…………ten minutes later, Kakashi walked into the class yawning "sorry" he said to the class. Ino raised her hand "Kakashi-sensei did you get attacked on the way here? Is that why you were late?" she said worried. All the class hushed as Kakashi seemed to TRY AND REMEMBER ten minutes ago. "uhhh…no…Ino…I just slept in" Ino fell over in her desk. Kakashi paid her no mind and turned to the rest of the class "alright class….someone remind me what I scheduled for today?" he asked genuinely confused. No one raised their hands because they didn't want to take the test….at least until one person raised their hand. "Kakashi-sensei we had a test today!" Sakura chimed. All the class groaned either from lack of studying or from not wanting to take it. A swift hand found the back of Sakura's head "baka!" Kara said as she slapped Sakura upside the head. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask "alright teens, calm down." He shuffled through his briefcase looking for the tests "hmm…where did I put those tests…." He said to himself. Ten minutes later he popped his head up "oh damn…I meant to make that test over the weekend…oh well..I guess everyone gets an A cause I don't feel like making a test." The class cheered except for Sakura "but I studied really hard…." She poked her fingers together sullenly.

Kakashi seemed to think, emphasis on seemed because sometimes he would just sit there for hours staring off into space, and finally after about an hour he turned to the class, which had dissolved into chaos, "I'm bored, its your job to entertain me today. He looked to a particular boy who was dressed in a green jumpsuit and had weird hair and overly fuzzy eyebrows. "you!" he pointed to Rock Lee as he searched his memory for his name "Rock Lee! You will fight…errmm…."he looked around and saw a particular red haired boy sleeping. He looked down at his roster and picked a name at random "Sabaku no Gaara!" Gaara woke slowly "hrmm?" he asked. Kakashi nodded "you will fight Rock Lee to entertain me and the rest of the class, go to the gym now." Gaara shuffled to the gym clearing his groggy eyes. Once there he walked out of the dressing room still dressed in what he had worn to school to see a huge statue n the middle of the room along with a giant ring on the second story of the building where all the students were watching from. _It appears to be quite the event…_Gaara thought to himself as Rock Lee walked out from the dressing room still in his gay green jumpsuit.

Gaara crossed his arms and put on a scowl "This is going to be interesting." Gaara said bored. Rock Lee assumed fighting stance and Kakashi said "GO" Immediately Rock Lee jumped up in the air throwing a powerful roundhouse kick. To his surprise the sand rose up and blocked it, furthermore to his surprise it solidified around his leg and the sand proceeded to throw him into a wall with his own leg. Rock Lee soared through the air until coming into contact with the wall, which cracked under the impact. Rock lee got up slowly "err…what?" he said as he saw the sand whirling menacingly around Gaara "hmm…this fight needs more…."Gaara's eyes got blood shot "blood" he let out one of his errie smiles, one of the smiles that he had that seriously made you wonder what Gaara had been through that had sent him so far off the deep end. Lee's mouth hung open as the sand dashed for him, he rolled to the side and charged at Gaara dodging Gaara's sand by rolling either left or right then throwing a punch combo only to hit sand. He kept up the attack thinking that the sand couldn't keep this up for long. Meanwhile Gaara brought up the sand that was behind Rock and used it to wrap around Rock's legs and throw him up into the air. Rock Lee soared up in the air on his back as to everyone's surprise Gaara used the sand to propel him up into the air where he rammed his knee hard into Rock's back and then turned around nailing Rock with and swift round house kick that sent him rocketing down to earth.

Naruto grimaced as Rock Lee smashed into the ground face first "ouch….fuzzy eyebrows is taking it up the…" Sakura cut him off in mid-sentence "NARUTO!" she slammed his face into the bar "stop thinking like that baka!" Sasuke chuckled to himself "its true though Sakura, Lee is not doing as well as Kakashi thought he would do. I think Gaara has this one in the bag." Sakura pursed her lips "I don't think so, Sasuke-kun, but to make it more interesting I'll bet you that Gaara will get seriously injured but not lose." Sasuke nodded "alright, I like a good wager…what do you want if you win?" Sakura smiled and said "you have to take me out to dinner and kiss me." She said daring him to back down. Sasuke, not wanting to lose face, agreed "alright, but if I win….you have to kiss Naruto". Sakura shuddered at the horrific thought "and I have to video tape it." Sasuke added. Sakura shuddered again _If I lose this bet, I'm never going to live it down…meh…_ She looked at Sasuke and shook his hand firmly "you got a bet" she said confidently. Naruto beamed "I get to make out with Sakura!" he shouted…or would have if halfway through his sentence he hadn't gotten a face full of knuckles from Sakura so it came out as "I GET TO MAKE OUT MPPHHH!" followed by Sakura jumping on his sprawled body and continuing to pummel him which made him yelp "OUCH SAKURA! STOP! OUCH! OUCH!" he screamed. Sakura yelled "BAKA! I WILL NOT LOSE THIS BET!" she climbed off of Naruto and walked away to go be with Hinata and Ino.

Meanwhile back at Gaara's house, Kismet yawned and stretched like a cat as she just woke up. She looked at the clock, it read 1:30pm, "its too early to get up now" she wined as she stretched and went back to sleep. ((poke poke Kismet :P))

Rock Lee climbed out of the crater he had just made in the ground _son of a bitch…these are the times when I wish I could use ninja techniques…_he thought as he jumped over another slash that the sand tried to make at him. He jumped back in a back flip and loosened the straps of things on his shins _I need to be faster to beat this guy…_he thought as he unstrapped the weights from his ankles and then threw them at Gaara. He smirked and disappeared in a flash of speed. _Time to go to work…_ he thought.

Gaara was having his fun toying with the gay green jumpsuited boy. His sand caught the weights that Lee tossed at him _huh? What are these? Weights?_ He thought until a pock mark of sand appeared to his left side as if blocking something there, then to his right, then above him, his left, his right, above, over and over again until he realized "oh no…" his eyes widened "I can't see him anymore" he whispered to himself. Just then a giant boot hit Gaara's head from above sending him skidding back a couple of feet. _Crap…_Gaara thought as he raised his sand defense and prepared for the next onslaught.

Rock Lee smirked as he finished skidding and got into fighting stance _much better, now I can actually hit him…_he thought as he jumped and disappeared hitting Gaara in the stomach, followed by a blow to the head and then to the side sending Gaara rolling in the air to the side. _This match is in the bag.._

Gaara spat blood from his mouth, it had been a long time since he tasted his own blood. He saw Rock Lee coming for his next attack run and his sand picked up on something, something lethal to Rock Lee….a pattern. The sand blocked up, to the right, to the left, all in unison before Rock lee even through the punch, he was mortified. Finally the sand managed to get a grasp on Rock Lee as he threw a punch and smashed the titanic weights that he had thrown at Gaara on his head sending him realing. Gaara smirked and then wrapped him in sand "Sabaku…Sosou!" he said but before the sand crushed Rock, Rock Lee opened his forest gate and with that new strength burst open from the coffin of sand. Gaara growled really pissed off now.

Rock lee looked at his own hands as he was surrounded by a bright green glow. His eyes went white and concrete from the floor got torn up from the updraft around Lee. He moved toward Gaara and grabbed him "secondary Lotus!" he said as he kicked Gaara up in the air and kicked him again, and again, but paused for one moment wincing from the pain then continuing until his wrapped arms unwrapped and the bandages wrapped around Gaara as he spiraled down with Gaara gaining momentum and force as he slammed Gaara down into the pit leaving a giant crater where the sand warrior seemed to gaze up at the ceiling, his face in a grimace. Rock lee panted and knelt down his green glow faded too. "I….I win" he said to the crowd. Cheers went up all around the gym but Sakura and Sasuke were at a stalemate in their bet….or so they thought.

The body of Gaara cracked and shattered crumbling into itself, an empty shell. Lee was shocked "A replacement?" just then a wave of sand grabbed Rock Lee and choked him in its writhing grasp. A pile of sand rose up revealing the evilly smiling Gaara who was laughing "nice try Rock Lee….but now…I will know…that I exist!" he clenched his fist "Sabaku Sosou!" he said as the sand clenched around Rock lee and he let out a scream as he burst into a puddle of blood that the sand soaked up greedily. Gaara smiled with satisfaction and walked off seemingly hurt badly but he had won, and his sand had fresh blood that was all that mattered to him.

The crowd looked on in shock as Rock Lee exploded. Kakashi was surprised _No one has had the balls to kill another student in a battle since…my generation…_ he watched Gaara leave and made a mental note _watch this Sabaku no Gaara…_ Sasuke nodded as he saw Rock Lee explode _It isn't illegal to kill another student in a match…but…its not encouraged either…and…DAMN IT! I LOSE THAT BET WITH Sakura…_ Sakura, Ino and Hinata grimaced and looked to Kara for an explanation. Kara shook her head "that's the problem with Gaara….he's….well…messed up…he doesn't think anything of killing….its like second nature for him now…" she said. Sakura, Ino and Hinata looked for more explanation but Kara shook her head "there will be a time for that….but not now….lets go…" she said ushering them out. Naruto murmured "I cant believe fuzzy eyebrows is dead…" he said as he walked with them to the car where Gaara already was ready to leave. They got into the word without a word and drove back to his house in silence.

---end---


	11. Ch10 Karaoke Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Ch.10 Karaoke Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

A/N: Hey all, I was serious when I said that you need to vote for a lemon if you all want one, otherwise I'm just going to go with my own preference which will be no lemon and you all will be SOL lol. Anyways, thanks for all your reviews and I would appreciate more, in fact if you all could help me spread the word about this fanfic, it would be much appreciated. Well hope you all have liked my writing, I plan on making this fanfic LOOONG! Just so you know to keep tuned in and not to expect an end anytime soon.  PLZ REVIEW! I LIKES TO HERE YOUR OPINIONS!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or Kara, she belongs to a friend of mine.

_This must be the longest car ride in recorded history. _Naruto thought. Time seemed to freeze and crawl by, it didn't help that there wasn't much scenery either. Everyone was on edge, except Sasuke of course. Naruto tried a couple of times to break the silence that permeated the car but his comments were harshly ignored. So he sat glumly in the back squished between Sasuke and Ino. _At least it's better than being duct taped to the roof like last time…_he thought.

Sasuke had to admit, he LOVED silence, but…this silence was different…..it was awkward….as if something they had always known but ignored finally came back to haunt them. Sasuke put his hands together and rested his chin on them thoughtfully _Regardless of how everyone feels here…... Gaara is quite powerful…and I think what just hit everyone here is that he could kill us in an instant if he wanted…but I think we've always somehow known that…what I learned here at least was that he thinks nothing of killing…I always knew he was stronger than I but…he doesn't show it…and that lets us forget what he is capable of when angered or cornered…but I don't think he would harm us…He's gotten too close to us to bring us harm………I hope_

Sakura sighed, she wanted to cry and shriek at the same time. _I didn't know Gaara was capable of this…or maybe…I did…but…I thought that maybe we had changed him…a girl can hope right?_ She let out a mushroom sigh and buried her face into Sasuke's shirt _yes she can…but that's all it is…hope…why did Kakashi-sensei let him kill Lee? Why isn't Gaara sorry for killing Lee? Why is he so angry all the time?_ She asked herself, but the answers to those questions were not within her knowledge so they only brought more questions. Sakura HATED questions with answers…..that weren't in a text book. She sighed and took her face out of Sasuke's shirt surprised he hadn't pushed her off him. She looked up and smiled at him gazing into his black eyes. To her surprise, Sasuke smiled back warmly and held her hand gently as if to say 'it'll be okay Sakura, just watch'. Sakura's thoughts were now off of Lee and off the questions that was all she needed. She leaned into Sasuke and fell asleep on his shoulder.

Ino played with her stud bracelet self consciously. _I'm honestly scared…_she thought silently _its not that I'm surprised that Gaara killed Lee, and I didn't like Lee…that's for sure…but well…I would have thought that Gaara would show some remorse…or have needed some prompting to kill Lee…instead of how…_the image of Gaara's insane grin appeared in her head, she cringed and shook her head to clear it away from her memory _how happy he was to kill Lee…how…excited…he got when he knew that he was going to kill Lee…it makes me wonder how safe I am with him…_she looked over to Naruto and noticed how calm and quiet he was. _Naruto's not that annoying once you get him to be quiet…and he's kind of cute…_she thought not wanting to cry as she heard Lee's death scream in her head. She buried her head in Naruto's sleeve crying silently. Naruto didn't mind and even put a comforting hand on her head massaging her scalp. _I'm so confused, I'm such a whore, I think I love Gaara but here I am crying on Naruto of all people, I can't get guys to notice me without wearing provocative clothes and I feel dirty all the time…_she cried harder still silently _no one cares what happens to me…_Almost as if he were reading her mind, Naruto pulled her head up gently and wiped her tears with his hand. He flashed her one of his famous fox smiles and looked her in the eyes as if to say _it's okay, I know how it feels to not know who you are and to have everyone hate you…you're not alone._

Hinata sat in the back next to the sobbing Sakura she couldn't help but let the tears fall from her eyes _Gaara-kun…he killed Lee-san…he hasn't changed…I…I'm scared…_ she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. _I don't want Gaara to fight anymore…he gets so scary…it's like…he likes killing…_she shuddered and started muttering prayers for his soul.

Kara sat up in the front next to Gaara playing with the sand that floated around him. She sighed realizing what a shocker that was for his friends _poor kids, they must be shocked at how Gaara killed Lee……well I guess I'd better make it up to them and explain why Gaara is the way he is……I'll do it tonight…_she resolved and continued playing with the sand.

Gaara pulled into the driveway of his house and got out as if nothing had happened. All the others got out obsessed with the new found bonds with each other. All accept Hinata and Kara which were thinking on Gaara. Gaara's sand opened the door for everyone. They were greeted with a half naked kismet on the couch watching TV with twelve empty boxes of Twinkies next to her and she was buried neck deep in Twinkie wrappers. She let out a belch and said "hey guys, long time no see". Naruto was the first to snap out of the morose mood they were in by looking at the empty boxes of Twinkies on the floor "MY TWINKIES! YOU ATE MY TWINKIES! WHY!" he said as he fell to his knees almost in tears rummaging around in the wrappers for at least one of his beloved Twinkies. "Why did you eat all of my Twinkies!" he sobbed still rummaging. Kismet gave an evil smirk and said "well….I'll tell you why…." She clicked a remote which activated the stereo system. A Violin and a viola sounded in a morose and sad tone. She waited a bit then said "When the devil is too busy and death's a bit too much, they call on me by name you see for my special touch. To the Gentlemen I'm misfortune, to the ladies I'm surprise but call me by any name any way its all the same!" a tambourine kicked in to keep pace and she was about to sing again when Gaara had a playful smirk on his face stepped forward and took off where she had left off "I'm the fly in your soup, I'm the pebble in your shoe, I'm the bee beneath your bed, I'm the bump on every head, I'm the wheel upon which you slip, I'm the pin in every hip, I'm the thorn in your side that makes you wriggle and writhe!" Kismet smirked back and they both started singing together "and it's so easy when your evil, this is the life you see the devil tips his hat to me, I do it all because I'm evil and I do it all for free, your tears are all the pay I'll ever need!" The violin went into a solo and then Kismet and Gaara continued this time with Sasuke joining in "while theirs children to make sad, while there's candy to be had, while there's pockets left to pick, while there's grannies left to trip down the stairs, Ill be waiting 'round the corner, it's a game I'm glad I'm in it cause there's one born every minute." Hinata, Kara, Ino, and Sakura gaped as they started doing a square dance-ish type of dance while singing this horrid song "and it' so easy when you're evil, this is the life you see the devil tips his hat to me! I do it all because I'm evil and I do it all for free! Your tears are all the pay I'll ever need! I pledge my allegiance to all things dark and I from this sum, my damned soul, to do as I am told for Beelzebub has never seen a soldier quite like me, one that not only does his job but does it happily! I'm the fear that keeps you awake," Sasuke said and Gaara made a fearsome sand demon-esque thing out of sand. "I'm the shadows on the wall," Kismet said as she faded in and out of shadow mode. I'm the monsters they become; I'm the nightmare in your skull!" Gaara said as he made sand monsters out of his sand. "I'm the dagger in your back!" Kismet said as a sand dagger appeared in her hand and she mock stabbed Sasuke in the back. "an extra turn upon the rack" they all sang in unison, Kara, Hinata, Sakura and Ino still staring bewildered. "I'm the quivering of your heart a stabbing pain, a sudden start. And its so easy when you're evil, this is the life you see, the devil tips his hat to me. And I do it all because I'm evil, and I do it all for free……your tears are all the pay I'll ever need!" the violin got really sad melody like and Kismet, Gaara and Sasuke made fake crying faces "and it gets so lonely being evil…..what I'd do to see a smile……even for a little while….and it gets so lonely when you're evil……." The violin cheered up with a shrill sound and Sasuke, Gaara and Kismet's faces turned evil again "I'm lying through my teeth! Your tears are all the company I need!" The song ended and Gaara, Sasuke, and Kismet burst out laughing. They fell in a pile on the floor among Twinkie wrappers.

Kismet was in tears of laughter "who would have guessed anyone else knew that song!" ((A/N that was When Your Evil by Voltaire which I also do not own, which makes you wonder what in the heck I ACTUALLY DO OWN!)) Sasuke and Gaara laughed too still leaving Naruto, Hinata, Kara and Ino out in the cold. Gaara smirked "are you kidding? That's one of the best songs ever!" Sasuke got up off the floor untangling himself from the mess "we should do Karaoke tonight!" he said laughing. Kara smirked "I'm down with that…….but I'm not making the drinks!" she said glad to get Gaara out of his morose mood as she pounced on Sasuke making him fall back into the dog pile. Naruto, now out of the shock of the Twinkies being gone, smiled and with a battle cry leapt into the dog pile "YAHH!" he screamed. Ino laughed and jumped on the sofa then somersaulted onto the dog pile drawing yelps of pain as everyone got entangled in each other. Sakura shrugged and smiled as she jumped into the pile "SASUKE-KUN!" she yelled as she got entangled with everyone else. Hinata turned a little red as she saw that someone was accidentally groping someone else. She hesitated as her timid side rebelled against this but then she was swept inside the pile by a wave of sand and a particular red headed sand warrior let out a yell of triumph and he was congratulated by everyone else whose mouth could still get air.

After about two hours of trying to untangle themselves, everyone was tired and hungry. Everyone struggled to keep from blushing at some of the places they had accidentally touched people in the dog pile. They all separated and started smoothing out their clothing, all the tension from the car ride had seemingly dissipated. Gaara rummaged around in the fridge and brought out ten frozen pizzas "okay, we're having pizza tonight." He said in a relatively good mood compared to what he usually was in. He unwrapped them and put them in the ovens. Sakura, Hinata and Ino were busy trying to get the Karaoke machine working but looked like cavewomen because they were puzzled with how to turn it on. Sakura scratched her head and Ino seemed to do some sort of magic ritual to try and get it to turn on while Kara meditated. Kismet couldn't take it anymore and grabbed the microphone that was attached to the Karaoke machine and started to beat it with its own microphone. "YIIII!" Kismet yelled as she kicked it too. Gaara laughed and shook his head as he walked up to them with a smirk on his face. All activity stopped as he simply pushed the play button and it booted up. Kara, Kismet, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata all fell down.

Gaara sat down in his recliner and closed his eyes trying to control his sand which seemed to be a little more unruly than usual. He sighed as he breathed in and out controlling his Chakra flow and the sand flow at the same time. Just then a familiar raccoon voice popped up into his head _he he he…you have been letting your guard down Gaara…you lack the anger right now to sufficiently control me…_ Gaara grimaced and stared at the brown sand raccoon face through the mental bars of his Charka prison. _Silence Monster! You are my slave and as such I'm here to collect on your rent! _Shukakku growled in his cage _you mere mortal dare to threaten me! Hrruh!_ He thrust his claws through the bars to kill the mental Gaara but only to have his sand claws melt right before the touched Gaara. Gaara's eyes narrowed _fool, have you forgotten that I too control the sand? And this is my mind, my body, I am God here._ He threw sand into Shukakku's eyes and Shukakku reeled back blinking trying to get the sand out of his eyes _monster you are my slave, and as such you must obey me. I command you to give me your chakra or I will deprive you of your control time. _Shukakku growled again hating to have to submit to a child _fine…_ Sandy tentacles laced from the cage and swiveled around Gaara's body imbuing him with Shukakku's chakra to help him control his sand more.

Gaara opened his eyes and felt stronger, more energetic. Even his bruises from the fight with Lee were healing at an accelerated rate. _I am tired…I need rest…_he thought as he closed his eyes and went to sleep. ((A/N I know Gaara doesn't sleep but in this one he does occasionally because he has Shukakku under lockdown almost 24/7))

Sasuke and Naruto came in laughing and dripping in sweat. Both were bloodied and bruised and had tattered clothes. Kara frowned and slapped them upside the heads "BAKAS! You're dripping blood and sweat on my carpet!" she rushed them off to the bathrooms where they showered and got changed. She came back grumbling something to the effect of castration and there being a next time someone hits her with a bloody pair of boxers. The Karaoke machine was FINALLY working thanks to Gaara and the girls were sitting around playing with Tarot cards and chatting. Ino focused on the deck and did a Celtic cross spread for Kara "hmm for your love you get the…." She drew a card and placed it in front of her "the caged bird card….that's odd…I don't know of any caged birds around here…." She said softly "oh well, maybe better luck next time." Kara went off to check on the pizzas and to make sure they had enough alcohol for tonight. Ino then reshuffled the deck and concentrated on it.

Sakura smiled and sat down in front of Ino "Ino….my best friend….can you do a love reading for me?" she made puppy dog eyes at Ino. Ino sighed and nodded "okay Sakura…" she laid the cards out in a design and then concentrated "your love is…..destined to be with……" she flipped the card up and put it in front of her "The Dark Knight card……someone who is dark and foreboding is capable of wreaking mass destruction and causing pain….but doesn't because you hold them back, you are their reason to stay in the light. You entrance them, you seem to 'soften' them up and your knight would rather die than see you come to harm…….you are very lucky indeed." She smiled as she saw Sasuke walk in wearing his usual high necked clack shirt and black shorts. She leaned in and whispered in Sakura's ear "that means Sasuke-kun or Gaara-kun is yours, be happy." Sakura giggled and nodded. She got up and left but not before giving Ino a bear hug.

Ino shuffled the deck and concentrated, she smirked as she tried a read for herself. The cards were laid out, and she thought _show me my destined lover_ she then flipped the card up and it was……..The False Jester. She took out her book and looked it up "the person this card represents is extremely light hearted and/or funny….but he/she does it in order to call attention to themselves, and it is not their true self. The truth about this person is probably that they are hurt inside and looking for someone who will listen." She read out loud. Just then Naruto came in dressed in a black t-shirt and green cargo shorts with an idiotic grin still wiping his hair with a towel from the shower. _It couldn't be…_she thought _Naruto is always light hearted……but…I don't think he could be hurt……we'd be able to see it…wouldn't we?_ She asked herself but her internal monologue was interrupted by a grey eyed Hinata who sat down in front of her and played with her fingers as if nervous. Ino looked at Hinata "what is it Hinata?" she asked with a smile. Hinata coughed a little and said "I was wondering…if…you might…if its not too much trouble…could you…" she motioned towards the deck of Tarot cards. Ino smiled and nodded _shy and polite in person as always…but a bitch on the battle field…_ she thought. She shuffled and concentrated on the deck. She laid them down in a pattern and the flipped the card and put it down next to Hinata. "you get the……Dark Knight Card…" she said frowning as the same card had been dealt to two people. Hinata was puzzled "what does it mean?" she asked. Ino smiled and explained "It means your special someone is dark and foreboding is capable of wreaking mass destruction and causing pain….but doesn't because you hold them back, you are their reason to stay in the light. You entrance them, you seem to 'soften' them up and your knight would rather die than see you come to harm…….you are very lucky indeed." Hinata blushed slightly "does that mean I could have…." She pointed to the sleeping Gaara "a shot with Gaara?". Ino smiled weakly "yeah…yeah it does……"

Kara got out the alcohol and the pizzas, Kismet started making drinks for everyone, Sakura and Ino chatter, Sasuke and Naruto argued, Gaara turned on the Karaoke Machine From Hell as it had now been dubbed by the girls and Hinata sat alone seemingly thinking. Kara ended all of that with a giant yell "ITS KARAOKE TIME!"

Everyone congregated near her and grabbed pizza and their jinn and cokes. They all sat down on the floor near the Karaoke machine which was on a makeshift stage. Kismet smirked and said "alright well here's the deal" she took out a deck of cards "we all get a card, the one with the lowest has to take a shot of tequila and then do a song, we'll do this until everyone has seven cards and the one with the worst poker hand has to strip for everyone!." She laughed. All agreed but Hinata was keeping to herself seemingly scared by the prospect of drinking.

((A/N I don't own any of these songs)) After a couple rounds of tequila they all took out cards from the deck face down. Naruto drew "damn a 10" he said then passed the deck to Sasuke who drew "hmm Jack" he said and passed the deck. Hinata grabbed it and drew "Ace" she said relieved. Ino drew next "fuck…a three…" she giggled already kind of tipsy after a couple drinks. Sakura drew next "eh an 8" she said shrugging. Kara drew next "King" she said triumphantly. Gaara shrugged and drew "Ace…of Spades". Ino skulked "looks like im gonna have to go first…" Kismet then drew and laughed "a 2….oh well…." She smirked and got up switching her hips as she walked up the stage. She searched through the library and found her song. "alright….one..two..three" she grabbed the microphone and the music started to play and she put on her most seductive face. She started to dance seductively to the music and then started singing.

((A/N: ONCE AGAIN I DON'T OWN THESE SONGS))

She sung. "_Repeat x2__  
_My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,  
And their like  
It's better than yours,  
Damn right it's better than yours,  
I can teach you,  
But I have to charge

I know you want it,  
The thing that makes me,  
What the guys go crazy for.  
They lose their minds,  
The way I wind,  
I think its time

_Chorus x2_  
La la-la la la,  
Warm it up.  
Lala-lalala,  
The boys are waiting

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,  
And their like  
It's better than yours,  
Damn right it's better than yours,  
I can teach you,  
But I have to charge

I can see you're on it,  
You want me to teach thee  
Techniques that freaks these boys,  
It can't be bought,  
Just know, thieves get caught,  
Watch if your smart,"  
She seemed to look at Hinata when she said the last line and started to run her hands over her body. Naruto, Gaara and Sasuke were practically drooling as she leaned forward letting them see down her shirt, then she leaned in and kissed Gaara passionately, then Sasuke, and then almost Naruto but let him miss her mouth and go right into her chest. Naruto stayed there for a little stunned and Kismet pulled his face up by his hair still with her seductive smile and continued singing.  
"_Chorus x2_  
La la-la la la,  
Warm it up,  
La la-la la la,  
The boys are waiting,

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,  
And their like  
It's better than yours,  
Damn right it's better than yours,  
I can teach you,  
But I have to charge

Oh, once you get involved,  
Everyone will look this way-so,  
You must maintain your charm,  
Same time maintain your halo,  
Just get the perfect blend,  
Plus what you have within,  
Then next his eyes are squint,  
Then he's picked up your scent,

_Chorus x2_  
Lala-lalala,  
Warm it up,  
Lala-lalala,  
The boys are waiting,

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,  
And their like  
It's better than yours,  
Damn right it's better than yours"

She pointed at Ino for the last line of that song and winked.  
"I can teach you,  
But I have to charge"

She giggled still looking at Ino and Hinata.

All the girls clapped politely though they had scowls on their faces because of how entranced she had made THEIR guys. All the guys clapped emphatically and Naruto spoke up "I think I can speak for all the guys when I say that even though we're sitting down, we are giving you a standing ovation." Gaara and Sasuke, still entranced by Kismet, merely nodded and grinned like idiots.

They all took another hit of tequila and drew cards again. Sasuke drew "7", Hinata "5", Kara "Queen", Kismet "6", Ino "Jack", Naruto "10", Gaara "Queen", and finally Sakura "9". Hinata gulped "that means me…." She said softly. Kara frowned "poor girl, she has to follow up your act…" she told Kismet in a whisper. Kismet smirked "serves her right for beating me in the cage match." She said evilly. Hinata tried to choose _I'm gonna suck…I can't follow up on an act like Kismet…I can't act sexy….I can only be…well…me…_her frown turned into a smile as she looked at Gaara who was giving her the utmost attention _I'll just be myself….that's all…_she breathed in and let out a sigh of relief and muttered her silent thanks to Gaara. She put on the music and started to slowly get her feet moving. She started to sing reaching inside of her to put force behind her words, the alcohol making it easier for her to be herself.

((A/N: I STILL DON'T OWN THIS SONG!))

"I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me.  
I still feel your touch in my dreams.  
Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why.  
Without you It's hard to survive.

Cause every time we touch,  
I get this feeling and every time we kiss I swear I could fly.  
Can't you feel my heart beat fast,  
I want this to last, need you by my side.  
Cause every time we touch,  
I feel the static and every time we kiss i reach for the sky.  
Can't you feel my heart beat slow,  
I can't let you go.  
Want you in my life."

She softly started to sing and twirl herself around gracefully using her lithe and toned body for support. Gaara looked on curious _its almost as if she's fighting someone like in the cage match…..except here…….the opponent is herself…._

Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky.  
They wipe away tears that I cry.  
Oh Oh The good and the bad times we've been through them all,  
you make me rise when I fall.

Cause every time we touch,  
I get this feeling and every time we kiss I swear I could fly.  
Can't you feel my heart beat fast,  
I want this to last, need you by my side.  
Cause every time we touch,  
I feel the static and every time we kiss I reach for the sky.  
Can't you feel my heart beat slow,  
I can't let you go. Want you in my life. 

Every time we touch,  
I get this feeling and every time we kiss I swear I could fly.  
Can't you feel my heart beat fast,  
I want this to last, need you by my side.  
Cause every time we touch,  
I feel the static.  
Every time we kiss I reach for the sky.  
Can't you feel my heart beat slow,  
I can't let you go. Want you in my life."

No one expected this so they were stunned into silence. Gaara was the only one who clapped. He clapped slowly, meaningfully and with a hint of a smile on his face. Hinata blushed and rushed off stage hiding her face in her arms. Her friends finally snapped out of it and clapped and whooped. "great job Hinata…." Kara said supportively. Hinata merely nodded. "Next round of drawing!" Naruto yelled. They passed the deck around again and this time Naruto got a 5, Sasuke got another Jack, Hinata got another Ace, Sakura got a 5, Kismet got a 6, Gaara got 10, Ino got another 3, and Kara got a 4. Ino rolled her eyes and smiled "alright, I guess I have to go…" she took another shot of Tequila and walked up the stage _This is for how you make me feel Naruto-kun…_she thought softly of how he made her feel in the car

"I made it through the wilderness  
Somehow I made it through  
Didn't know how lost I was  
Until I found you

I was beat incomplete  
I'd been had, I was sad and blue  
But you made me feel  
Yeah, you made me feel  
Shiny and new

Chorus: 

Like a virgin  
Touched for the very first time  
Like a virgin  
When your heart beats (after first time,  
"With your heartbeat")  
Next to mine

Gonna give you all my love, boy  
My fear is fading fast  
Been saving it all for you   
'Cause only love can last

You're so fine and you're mine   
Make me strong, yeah you make me bold  
Oh your love thawed out   
Yeah, your love thawed out  
What was scared and cold 

chorus

Oooh, oooh, oooh

You're so fine and you're mine  
I'll be yours 'till the end of time  
'Cause you made me feel  
Yeah, you made me feel  
I've nothing to hide 

chorus

Like a virgin, ooh, ooh  
Like a virgin   
Feels so good inside  
When you hold me, and your heart beats,   
and you love me

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Ooh, baby  
Can't you hear my heart beat  
For the very first time?"

Everyone clapped except for Hinata who was still trying to wrap her mind around the concept of how anyone could not be a virgin before marriage. ((A/N: poke poke Hinata :P)) They drew cards again Gaara went first and drew a 2 "crap…don't even bother telling us what you all got…I have to go anyways…grr.." he growled angry and got up to the stage. Kara sensed an opportunity "wait Gaara, from now on we have to sing about ourselves with a song that we feel describes us…you first.." she said. He turned on the Karaoke machine and his sand played around with the microphone by juggling it for him. Naruto yelled "SHOW OFF!" to which Gaara replied with a sand ball to the face. The others laughed as the music started

((A/N: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE SONGS!))

"You are wrong, fucked, and overrated  
I think I'm gonna be sick and it's your fault  
This is the end of EVERYTHING  
You are the end of EVERYTHING  
I haven't slept since I woke up  
And found my whole life was a lie, motherfucker  
This is the end of EVERYTHING   
You are the end of EVERYTHING"

Gaara got his blood thirsty look on his face and his sand blazed around him spinning menacingly, making all truly afraid.

Shallow skin, I can paint with pain  
I mark the trails on my arms with your disdain  
Everyday it's the same - I LOVE, YOU HATE  
But I guess I don't care any more...  
Fix my problems with the blade  
While my eyes turn from blue to gray  
God, the worst thing happened to me today  
But I guess I don't care anymore...

You are wrong, fucked, and overrated  
I think I'm gonna be sick and it's your fault  
This is the end of EVERYTHING  
You are the end of EVERYTHING  
I haven't slept since I woke up  
And found my whole life was a lie, motherfucker  
This is the end of EVERYTHING  
You are the end of EVERYTHING

My flaws are the only thing left that's pure  
Can't really live, can't really endure  
Everything I see reminds me of her  
God I wish I didn't care anymore  
The more I touch, the less I feel  
I'm lying to myself that it's not real  
Why is everybody making such a big fucking deal?  
I'm never gonna care anymore

What the hell am I doing?  
Is there anyone left in my life?  
What the fuck was I thinking?   
Anybody want to tell me I'm fine?  
Where the hell am I going?   
Do I even need a reason to hide?  
I am only betrayed  
I am only conditioned to die"

His sand fell to the ground as his face looked at the ground where a solitary tear fell down his cheek and he looked up at them, clearing his expression and acting as if nothing had ever happened. The rest of the card game went well for Gaara and Sasuke was up next.

Sasuke sighed "about ourselves? Okay.." he got up and started the music summoning all the pain of having to watch his entire family murdered by his own brother. The music started up and Sasuke's calm face distorted into a snarl as he sang

"Crawling in my skin  
These wounds they will not heal  
Fear is how I fall  
Confusing what is real

There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface  
Consuming/confusing  
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending  
Controlling/I can't seem

_Bridge:_  
To find myself again  
My walls are closing in  
(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)  
I've felt this way before  
So insecure

_Chorus_ Crawling in my skin  
These wounds they will not heal  
Fear is how I fall  
Confusing what is real

Discomfort,endlessly has pulled itself upon me  
Distracting/reacting  
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection  
It's haunting how I can't seem...

_Bridge_ To find myself again  
My walls are closing in  
(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)  
I've felt this way before  
So insecure

_Chorus_ Crawling in my skin  
These wounds they will not heal  
Fear is how I fall  
Confusing what is real

_Chorus_ Crawling in my skin  
These wounds they will not heal  
Fear is how I fall  
Confusing what is real.."

He dropped the mike and got down off stage and sat down.

"Naruto your up next" he mumbled. Naruto got up and his music came on. He let the hate and pain flow through him as he sang

"Fear in me so deep it gets the best of me,  
In the fear I fall, here it comes face to face with me,  
Here I stand hold back so no one can see,  
I feel these wounds, step down, step down,  
step down.

(am I) Breaking Down  
Can I break away  
Push me away, make me fall,  
Just to see, another side of me,  
Push me away, you can see,  
what I see, the other side of me.

Fall back on me, and I'll be the strength I need,  
to save me now, just come face to face with me,  
stay in place you'll be the first to see, me heal these wounds,  
step down, step down, step down, down

I'm not breaking, down  
can I break away  
push me away, make me fall,  
just to see another side of me,  
push me away you can see,  
what I see, the other side of me

Go!

Fall, can I break away  
push me away, make me fall,  
just to see another side of me,  
push me away you can see,  
what I see, the other side of me

No one can see anything on the other side of me  
I walk, I crawl, loosing everything and waiting for the downfall  
No one can see everything on the other side of me  
I walk, I crawl loosing everything on the downfall.  
Downfall, Fall."

He dropped the mike and sat next to Sasuke and Gaara who were drinking heavily because all of their memories had been dragged to the surface. Naruto joined them.

They all looked at each other and forgot about the game…..obviously some of them had been hurting for along time and needed to talk….

Kara smirked as her plan had worked. _I knew with the right amount of drink and the right songs…they'd finally open up…_

"guys….you wanna talk about this stuff?" Kara asked gently.

Sasuke, Naruto and Gaara looked at each other and at the same time said "hai….but only a little bit…."

---end---


	12. Chapter 11: Stripped Bare

Ch.11: Stripped Bare

A/N: I hope you all liked the last chapter, my muse has been working 24/7 with me and for that I'm grateful. Oh btw for those of you who want it, Kismet is writing an nc-17 version, if you want it just email me and I'll send it to you. Just so you know the characters are not going to spill all their issues, that would be way OOC, just most of them. Speaking of I got a review from TerryShadow saying that she thinks some of the characters were abit OOC in last chapter. While that may appear to be true, I think that's how Gaara and Sasuke are when they are having fun. But I respect your warning, thanks for the reviews all. They make my day!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the various songs that I use in my fanfic.

There they were, Uchia Sasuke, Sabaku no Gaara, and Uzamaki Naruto. The three most closed people you could possibly ever meet, each with their own tales, pain, and ways of dealing with it. _Perhaps……tonight we shall have some answers…_Kara thought as she reached down and softly touched Gaara's cheek "Gaara….are you ready to talk?" Her hand was immediately covered by sand that started to constrict it. She winced and said "I take that as a no…" the sand fell away from her hand and she moved on to Uzamaki Naruto "what about you Naruto? You ready to talk?" He looked up at her with what looked like fox eyes glaring at her. "I'll take that as a no…" she said softly as she moved on to Sasuke and touched his arm gently "Sasuke…are you ready to talk?" she asked delicately. Her response was a glare from his two Sharingans. She gasped and grunted "fine…you wanna play hardball guys…" she walked over to the girls and smirked "lets play" as soon as she said that Sakura, Ino, and Hinata slowly got up and started towards them _crap…_all the guys thought at once.

Sakura went slowly over to Sasuke and sat next to him "Sasuke-kun…please…." She looked up at him, her eyes staring into his black eyes pleadingly. "Please let me in Sasuke-kun….I…I want to help you….I…I want to be with you…"she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and buried her face into his shirt "please Sasuke-kun….I can't live being out here alone…..let me in…." she softly cried in his shirt. Sasuke was surprised _I would have thought she would have gone for the sex approach….but…this seems…genuine…genuine concern for me….I…I'd be a monster to not let her in….maybe…maybe if I just tell them a little….then maybe she'll stop crying…_ He looked up to Kara in a defeated way, his Sharingans disappearing. Kara smiled _one down, two to go…_

Ino went over to Naruto and squatted down in front of him. She raised his head up to hers and kissed him softly. Naruto returned the kiss fully and deepened it as if he needed it. She broke the kiss off and looked him in the eyes "please Naruto….tell us….for me?" Naruto growled and his fox eyes flickered but sustained "There's nothing to tell…" he said softly. Ino frowned and kissed him again but more passionately "please Naruto-kun…..I…I want to be there for you…..I want to comfort you like you comforted me…….I want to…" she leaned in and kissed down his neck softly "I want you to open up to me….I want to figure out the mystery of Naruto…" Naruto's fox eyes faded and he nodded weakly "ok…ok…" _no one has ever cared for me like this before…..I'd be a monster not to let her know about me……_He looked up to Kara and nodded. Kara smirked _two down, one to go…_

Hinata walked slowly but cautiously over to Gaara and softly put her hand in his and sat down next to him. "Gaara-kun…will you….please tell us…." Gaara mumbled something about women and prying where they don't belong. Hinata pushed a little "please Gaara…..tell us…."she would have said more if sand had not engulfed her. Gaara growled as Hinata shrieked. "Do I ask you about your childhood scars? Do I ask you about your previous battles? No. I let you deal with them and tell me as you see fit, and I expect….no…demand the same courtesy…" he said dissolving the sand around her. Hinata was going to run away but something in her said to stay "please Gaara….I…I want to help…."Gaara's heart panged _funny…I thought you were dead…_Gaara thought to his heart. Hinata continued "I want to know you Gaara…please….."she was too nervous and shy to kiss him or even bury her head in his clothes so she just stood there awkwardly. Gaara thought to himself _maybe she really does want to help…..but she'll just end up spurning me just like everyone else…..she'll hurt me….but…she's so sincere. I'd be a monster not to let her in…._Gaara's eyes softened for a moment but then hardened and narrowed _but I am a monster._ He looked up and glared at Hinata "no". He said distinctly. Hinata frowned wanting to fling her arms around him as she saw Sakura do to Sasuke and yearned to kiss him as Ino had done to Naruto but….something held her back. _Its just not right….you're not supposed to kiss someone like that….you're not supposed to before marriage…._she thought so she backed away and looked at Kara defeated as if to say _I knew it…_

Kismet smirked with satisfaction as she walked up behind Hinata "Watch and learn." She walked up to Gaara switching her hips as she walked. She turned around to face Hinata "Sabaku no Gaara is stronger than these two pathetic boys" she pointed to Naruto and Sasuke who were kissing Sakura and Ino passionately (each to whom ever they were paired). "He" she started as she bent down to Gaara's level and pulled his head up to hers meeting him in a passionate kiss. Hinata was shocked and covered her eyes. She broke the kiss "is" she kissed down his neck pausing to bite him at the nape of his neck. Gaara's eyes seemed to drift in and out "a totally" she continued as she put his hand on her chest "different" she ran her hands up and down his neck and chest and Gaara let out a growl or maybe it was a purr "animal" she finished as she looked Gaara in the eyes "My life is yours Gaara, you are indeed strong, and…if you share…your past…..you can let me know on how to better……serve" she licked her lips as she said serve "you…" Gaara was so desperate now, years of loneliness built up inside him and he soon craved to touch her, his mind now scattered and unfocused seemed to fantasize about her every second. "o…okay…" he managed to let out as Kismet straddled him and wrapped her legs around his waist, "good boy" she said softly and then started to make out with him right there and then in the living room.

Kara watched for about ten minutes and shook her head slowly _poor Hinata….she really is in a world all her own….she doesn't stand a chance against Kismet on the relationship front…_she watched all the couples make out seemingly cut off from the rest of the world. Sakura tried to remove Sasuke's shirt and that's when Kara decided to stop it. "OKAY STOP WITH THE MAKING OUT ALREADY!" she yelled. When no one listened to her she grabbed Sakura, Ino and Kismet off of their respective guys. She turned to the guys which now had lipstick over probably half of their bodies "Now, no more of that! No more of the public make out sessions! If you're going to do that then get a fricking room!" Naruto and Sasuke scratched their heads embarrassed while Gaara was brave enough to speak up "It's my house, I can do what I want." He said slowly but meaning it. Kara growled _he has a point…_ "well…out of common courtesy…please.." Gaara growled "I make no promises." He said. Kara realizing she was losing control of the situation toughened up and turned to Sasuke "now talk or no more Sakura time" she glared daggers at Sakura who smiled ashamed and blushed, kicking the ground softly.

Sasuke growled and nodded "fine…." He sighed softly. "My name is Uchia Sasuke, and I have goals that I have no intention of leaving as just dreams…..The resurrection of my clan……and to kill a certain man." Kara nodded "and who is this certain man?" Sasuke glowered at her "Uchia Itachi…..my older brother." Kara huffed "alright, why do you want to kill him?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed "because he killed my entire clan…..and forced me to watch……a thousand times." Everyone in the room stilled and a hush fell over the room. Kara gulped "a thousand times? How is that possible?" Sasuke growled "he has a sharingan…a special sharingan….that is all you need to know." He pounded the floor with his fist "I will not rest until I have killed him for what he has done….and then I will rebuild my clan…..that is my life goal…." They nodded except Gaara who felt no particular sympathy or reason to why he should have wanted to know all of that.

"Naruto you're next" Kara said as she held Ino back by her shirt even though she was struggling to get back to Naruto "or no more Ino time". Naruto frowned "fine…..my name is Uzamaki Naruto and my goal is to become Hokage of my home town…..and to protect all of the people I care about…" The girls smiled at his goal as they thought it was noble. "and your past? Why are you like this Naruto?" Kara asked softly as she could already see the pain on his face "I am like this because……everyone in my city hates me…..they…ignore me…..and call me a demon child….and my parents died when I was very young….I'm like this because I'm alone…..always alone." Ino frowned and crossed her arms. Naruto caught it and said "well…at least I was always alone….before a certain girl came along…." He flashed a foxy grin at Ino and that made her run back at him but Kara still held her by the edge of her tube top. "I guess that will do…" she said as she let go of Ino and Ino fell flat on her face.

Kara turned to Gaara "alright Gaara, its that time……open up." It wasn't so much that Gaara cared what people thought of him, it was that he hated actually FEELING something for a change. He sighed and then closed his eyes "I…have a demon…inside of me…his name is Shukakku…and…that's why I can control the sand…." He said softly. Kara frowned at how Kazekage had hidden this from her. Kismet smirked _Now that is hot!_ She thought licking her lips. Hinata softly gasped _so that's why he's so grumpy all the time….he's got…evil…._she thought. Gaara continued "and it makes me…..well…it makes me an insomniac….I can't sleep...or else it takes over and starts eating my personality…..unless I only half-sleep which is what I usually do….and..well…people fear me…." He said softly "they always have and always will……even when I was a baby……the adults looked down on me and called me demon child and ignored me, forbidding their children to get near me. Then….my Father….Kazekage…realized I was too powerful to live….he saw me as a threat….so he ordered ninja's to attack me…a child……and if I didn't kill them they just kept coming…"he stuttered for a moment and the regained his composure "So I killed them…"his voice got dark "even at age five…killing's always been easy for me…" his frown turned into a twisted smile "it showed me that in their death I could find my life, that my purpose is to kill and prove to everyone that I exist." Kara interjected and said "Gaara…calm down….father isn't trying to kill you anymore remember…that's why he sent you here…." Gaara shook his head and held it in his hands "He always wants me dead, even my Care taker told me before he died….I was not loved….not by father, not by anyone, and to die……I did die that day….." he clutched his heart "I died but found that not even death would take me…..not even mother loved me…..she screamed for them to kill me as she gave birth…..and then I killed her…."he let down a tear and then hardened his eyes "but mother is always with me now……..always…..to remind me that no one loves me….and that my purpose is to destroy…." The red character that was inscribed on his head was literally carved into his head instead of painted as they once thought.

Hinata sighed _I want to go up and hug him…but…I don't think he wants that….I think he wants more of what Kismet wants to give him….._Kara sighed "Gaara you know that's not your purpose…."Gaara cut her off in mid-sentence "shut up sister, you don't know me." Kara shut up and looked down. _It's true Gaara…I don't know you as well as I should….and I'm sorry I ran…I'm sorry I left you alone…but…I needed space…I…I didn't want to have to worry about you…._the others looked at Gaara as if there was divine inspiration in them. Suddenly they knew….just how screwed up Gaara was.

Gaara sighed "I'm not saying any more." He said softly. Kara nodded as if she understood. Ino smirked and got up. She walked over to Naruto and kissed him passionately, while leading him to stand up. Naruto and Ino's lips broke apart and Ino led Naruto away. Sakura did the same to Sasuke. Hinata was confused "where are you taking them?" she asked. Ino and Sakura smirked "they opened up to us….its takes a big man to open up to a girl…..so we're going to go……open up for them." Hinata didn't catch the reference "what?" she asked. Sakura and Ino smirked again "we're going to give them a reward for opening up to us…." Naruto and Sasuke didn't even look at each other both were too busy being led away by the shirt collar to their rooms. Hinata finally understood "oh….eep!" she said as she blushed.

Kara shook her head slowly as she saw Kismet get up and whisper something in Gaara's ear. Gaara got up immediately and followed her to his room. Hinata sighed as she watched him go. She folded her legs up into her chest and hugged them tight not knowing what to do or how to fight Kismet for Gaara. _She can do all of that stuff for him….what do I have to offer him?_ She thought dejectedly. Kara lifted her head up with her hand and looked Hinata in the eyes "I can show you how….if you want….to be able to do that kind of stuff for Gaara….that's the only way you're going to be able to stand a chance…..and even then…..its going to be a hard battle….." Hinata sighed and shook her head "no…I…It's…it's wrong…it belongs in marriage only….". Kara sighed "alright Hinata-sama…..but…if you ever get serious about Gaara then come talk to me…and I'll teach you how to get Gaara…." She got up and said "good night Hinata-sama" she went off to her room and slept. Hinata sighed and went to her quarters as well _I can't do that stuff…it's…just wrong….._she sighed and tried to sleep only to be rudely awakened MANY times during the night by moans, screams or the occasional voice "OH GAARA! YESS! YES! YES!" or ""SASUKE-KUN! YES!" or "NARUTO! OH GOD!YES!".

---end---


	13. Chapter 12: A New Challenger, A New Love

Chapter 12: New Challenger, New Love

Author's Note: Well here's the next chapter, sorry about taking semi-longer than usual but I had stuff to do over the weekend. I have received a number of requests for a certain girl to hook up with a certain guy and although I promised no more OC's I never said anything about never bringing in another character from the ANIME! MWUHAHAHAH!

Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto stuff.

A red haired teen sat at the kitchen table dressed in his usual black t-shirt, blue jeans, and red sash. He sipped a cup of coffee quietly as he looked at his cell phone _6:30am…they should be getting up now._ He had been sitting there ever since about four thirty quietly sipping his coffee and reading his paper. His thoughts were not on the news however, they were on last night with Kismet, who was still asleep in his bed. _That was….fun…_the side of his mouth curled up into a smirk as he sipped more coffee _and to think I've been missing out on that since freshman year…_he thought as he ran a hand through his own red sandy hair. He caught a flash of black and grey as his hand moved up to his face and firmly caught the fist that was thrown at him. A stunned Sasuke growled "morning Gaara…" He shuffled off to get some coffee and breakfast. Gaara smirked again "you're getting faster, Sasuke" Sasuke growled his acknowledgement as he had been more and more discontent since Lee had been the first to land a hit on Gaara. He had been pushing himself and consequently Naruto harder and harder, striving to beat Lee's record. Gaara hesitated "your fast, my sand didn't even react that time, I had to stop you with my hand." He said passing out a rare compliment. Sasuke froze and realized he was right. He flickered in and out of focus and Gaara's sand rose up encircling the wrist that tried to harm it's master. Sasuke groaned "damn it!" Gaara laughed "If I hadn't been on guard, you would have been successful." He said softly as he rose.

Gaara's sand rose up and blocked three swift strikes and then grabbed the arm that had attacked him. "Nice try, Naruto" he said smirking as the orange clothed shinobi squirmed at the touch of his sand. "AWW DAMN IT!" Sasuke laughed and continued to sip his coffee. Gaara let go of Naruto and Naruto went to the refrigerator. Gaara sat back down across from Sasuke, sipping his coffee, both not looking at each other. There was an unsaid respect between them, both were strong and stoic, and both knew that they shared some similarities but neither of them was social enough to make their friendship really close. Naruto grabbed a Coke and sat down "Eww how can you guys drink that black sludge?" he asked as sipped his Coke. Gaara looked at him and said "I could say the same thing to you…….but your black sludge rots teeth faster and has less caffeine." He smirked and Sasuke chuckled "he has a point Naruto…." Sasuke responded. They all laughed and then Naruto broke the silence "did any of you actually sleep last night?" he said awkwardly. They all exchanged looks and stuck out their fists at each other, all three slamming into the other's fist.

A cough was heard as all the girls were dressed and ready, watching this. Kara shook her head in mock worry "What do we have here? A triumvirate of trouble?" the guys laughed and got up "guess you're ready to go then?" Gaara said as he twirled the keys to his jaguar on his hand. The girls nodded, Sasuke and Naruto dropped their drinks and walked out the door with them. Gaara shut the door and locked it. They all climbed into the Jag and squished together….except for Naruto. "THIS IS NOT FAIR!" he screamed but it only came out from the trunk as "MPHEHEPEHEPRH!" but was soon silenced. Gaara chuckled as he climbed in and gunned the engine. He smirked at its purr "good" he said as he slammed down on the accelerator and roared off down the road.

They pulled into the school parking lot, Gaara was surprised that no one opened the door. He adjusted the rear view mirror to see what was so damn important that no one was talking or opening the doors only to be greeted by the sight of Sasuke and Sakura making out in the back seat next to a very uncomfortable Hinata and a disgusted Kara, while Kismet seemed to chuckle beside him "aww they cant keep their hands off each other…." She gushed. Gaara formed a ball of sand from his back pack and hurled it at them, hitting them both smack in the head breaking their moment. Sakura blushed and readjusted her top which Sasuke had been fiddling with on the road there. Gaara shook his head "animals…" he said as he opened the door and walked towards school. Sasuke and everyone else got out and walked off.

Gaara was almost to class when he was shoved into a bathroom by a pair of hand, his sand immediately responded only to find that it was Kismet who had shoved him into there. "Kismet? What is this ab…" he said or would have if Kismet hadn't pressed her lips to his and started making out with him right then and there. After about ten minutes Kismet tried to unbutton his pants but Gaara shoved her off of him with his sand "no, not here, not now, school starts in twenty minutes." He said as his sand buckled his pants back up. Kismet smirked "that's my point, we have twenty minutes…." Gaara rolled his eyes "no, not here." He said pushing past her and out into the hallway not in the mood for it. Kismet pouted and followed as she chewed on her lower lip. Gaara opened the door to the class room and took his seat next to Hinata and Kara. They all looked around "everyone's here" Kara smiled and then Ino spoke up "NO! NARUTO-KUN ISN'T HERE!" she shouted. They all turned to face the window to where the back of the Jaguar was bouncing up and down with stifled profanities being yelled from the trunk. Sasuke shook his head in annoyance "I'll go fetch him…." He got up and climbed out the window. Everyone watched stifling their laughter as Sasuke opened the trunk and Naruto jumped out trying to strangle them "FIRST DUCT TAPE AND NOW THE TRUNK?" he screamed as he and Sasuke rolled around on the pavement wrestling.

Kismet licked her lips "that's hot" she said smirking but then got a swift slap upside the head from Kara "shut up" she said disapprovingly. Kismet growled "you were all thinking it too, I was just voicing it…" she said pouting. Ino fiddled guiltily _she's right…I was thinking that… _Just then, a miracle happened…..Kakashi was ON TIME FOR ONCE! Kakashi walked over to the window "what are you all looking at?" he asked bored. He saw Naruto and Sasuke wrestling on the pavement "Sasuke, Naruto, hey you can finish playing 'slap-and-tickle' with each other when you get home, get inside." He said. The guys in the class laughed and Sasuke jumped into the class room landing a swift kick into one of the male shinobi's who laughed. "Got something to say?" he said menacingly. The kid held his face and shook his head vehemently. Sasuke smirked "that's what I thought." He sat down calmly and Kakashi rummaged around in his briefcase "uhh…seems I don't have today's lesson with me…." The entire class fell out of their desks except for Gaara who rolled his eyes "are you ever prepared?" he asked calmly in his monotone voice and his soulless stare. Kakashi scratched his head and seemed to think. Gaara growled at the lack of an answer "wow, that thing you do with your arms……it creates the illusion that you're thinking" he said with a bite to it. Kakashi, if he didn't know what Gaara was capable of, would have assigned him to be in a three on one but decided against it _I can't really think of any three students who could really beat him right now…hem…he really got me good with that last one…the illusion that I'm thinking…_he chuckled _I'll have to remember that one._

Kakashi had something to do for the next three hours so he let the class out until he could return with his surprise for them. Gaara, Hinata, Kismet, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Ino and Kara were all sitting outside of the school enjoying the sun and hanging out. Three seniors walked up to him "so, we heard that you actually killed another junior, you got some big balls kid….and we like that." Sasuke laughed at them "you like guys who have big balls? Why are you a faggot or something?" The group laughed except the seniors. "You got a big mouth there, Junior, where you think you get off telling us that?" Sasuke got serious "because I can take you guys." He said as his Sharingan appeared in his eyes. One of the seniors smirked "I'll take that bet, me versus you, my friend versus the orange clothed clown and our leader here versus your red haired freak." Naruto exploded "ORANGE CLOTHED CLOWN!" Sasuke clamped Naruto's mouth shut with his hand and said "deal, if we win, you hand over your cash and have to…..take some pictures for me and my orange clothed clown. And you're leader has to come out of the closet." He said snickering. The seniors seethed "fine, but if we win you all have to dress as man hookers for the day." Gaara laughed a little, as his blood thirsty side started to come out "alright….but anything goes…." Kara froze as she realized what that meant. She was about to protest but Kismet shut her mouth and said "its hot when Gaara kills people, plus these creeps deserve whatever Gaara gives them, leave it be." Kara grudgingly agreed and watched them size each other up.

Sasuke made the first move and sprinted toward the first one "bad move Sparky" The senior taunted as he threw shiruken right at Sasuke, it hit him square in the chest…..making him explode into smoke and in its place stood a log with the three shiruken stuck in it. The senior growled "where are you?" he asked and as if by magic Sasuke's voice came from right behind him "right here" he said as he stuck three Kunai in his back and back flipped "boom" he said as the Kunai exploded with its exploding tags. The senior flew about twenty meters forward right into Sasuke's right fist, followed by a knee to the gut and finally a kick that sent the senior up into the air. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and his fingers made the tiger seal, the dragon seal, the crane seal and back to the tiger seal "Katon Gyukyu no jutsu!" he said as a giant fire ball was unleashed from his mouth and straight up into the air. The senior, dazed from Sasuke's last attack, was helpless and was engulfed by the flames. His body was still smoking and on fire when he hit the ground. "You're turn Naruto." He said nonchalantly as Sakura went starry eyed _HE'S SO COOL!_ She thought as Sasuke calmly sat back down not even tired, training with Gaara had definitely helped him.

Naruto smirked "you guys are a joke." He said in his usual cocky voice. The second senior growled "lets go." He threw Kunai at Naruto and Naruto in a surprisingly deft move grabbed them by their finger holds and then threw them back at the senior. He growled and stopped them in mid air with his Chakra and threw them at Naruto, which speared him threw the chest….or so he thought as Naruto vanished in a plume of smoke. _A shadow clone?_ He asked himself as another Naruto charged him. This time the senior pulled out a scroll and weapons tumbled out hurling themselves at Naruto, which speared him and made him disappear in a flash of smoke. _Another one?_ He asked himself incredulously "you're pretty good….for a toddler." The real Naruto said as he stepped out of the bushes. The senior growled and stood his ground. Naruto crossed two fingers over the other hand's fingers "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!" he yelled as he created ten shadow clones of himself. Three slid under him and kicked him up in the air "Uz-a-ma-ki" they said as all but one jumped up after him and hit him one at a time "Na-ru-to!" they said as the kicked him downwards where the real Naruto held a glowing swirling ball of blue chakra "RASENGAN!" he screamed as he shoved it into the seniors stomach making him swirl up in the air and come crashing downwards on top of the other one that Sasuke had dispatched.

The last senior growled at his friends being dispatched by a couple of juniors "they were weak, you won't get so lucky with me." He said as took out four umbrellas and tossed them up into the sky where they twirled and twirled gathering needles until they were full. Gaara watched unexcited as the others watched in awe. The umbrellas finally stopped and started spinning counter clockwise spitting out all of the needles it had collected. The senior was laughing maniacally "DIE! I'll WIPE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS OUT!" Gaara growled as the needles zoomed toward him and the others. He felt a little stirring in his heart, _still won't die will you?_ He asked his heart as he spread out his sand protecting all of them as the needles hit the sand shield he had created. Hinata remembered what Kara had said about Gaara _against Gaara…basically all attacks are useless…_she smiled knowing that Gaara cared enough to save them himself and not make them rely on their own skills. The senior gasped for air as he chuckled evilly as the dust cleared. There stood Gaara encased in a shell of sand that had millions of pins in it and so was each of his friends "NO! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" he sputtered as the sand shields disintegrated and spread to Gaara's feet "you made it rain needles….." he looked up with his blood shot eyes "I'll make it rain blood" he said as made the tiger seal with one of his hands and thrust his palm at the senior. Sand hands came up from the ground enveloping the seniors "SABAKU KYU!" he clenched his fist as the sand crushed the seniors and soaked up their blood. All cringed as they heard him say that because they knew that meant death, no one had ever escaped Gaara's attack when he meant to kill them….no one.

About ten minutes of awkward silence later, all the students were seated in the class room and Kakashi had returned "Today we have a transfer shinobi….since…err…we were shorted a ninja by a nameless individual…" All gazes shifted to Gaara with accusing glances. Gaara's eyes became bloodshot and they all jumped immediately turning around. A grey eyed, black haired arrogant teen walked into the room wearing a tight white muscle shirt, blue jeans, and a spike bracelet. Kakashi put his hand on the teen's shoulder "This is your new classmate Hyuuga Neji." Hinata gasped "cousin…" she meeped from the back as she shuffled over to him and hugged him. Blushing she went back to her seat secretly feeling somewhat diminished now that her cousin was here……..her extremely powerful cousin that is……Kakashi smirked as he had a brilliant idea "seems we can have a family feud today…everyone to the gym, im bored." The students rushed over to the gym except for Hinata and Gaara. They walked slowly step by step. Hinata started to sweat "Gaara-kun…..Neji…he is…strong…" _maybe as strong as you…_ "so I don't know if I can beat him…" she continued. Gaara shrugged "you didn't think you could beat Kismet…..yet you did……have some faith in yourself." He said in his cold tone. Hinata blushed and played with her hands "Gaara-kun…do you really think I can win?" she asked. Gaara raised an eyebrow and looked at her with his feeling in his usually empty eyes "I believe that if you believe you can, you will." He said displaying some emotion for once as a knowing smirk crossed his face, and then as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared. Hinata smiled "thank you…" she mumbled. Gaara couldn't help but feel some sort of affection for her, she needed someone to stand up for her and he just instinctually felt the need to protect her, which was weird because he usually didn't care what happened to people. His arms were crossed over his chest and Hinata wished that he would hold her close. She fantasized about his warm embrace and that look of feeling that was rare on his face, her hand unconsciously drifted towards him and he stared down at her hand hanging in between them awkwardly and his sand formed a hand that firmly took hold of hers. The sand usually coarse and cold was now soft and warm. Hinata blushed and nestled her head against Gaara's sand arm affectionately closing her eyes.

Hinata felt them slow and eventually stop. Gaara coughed and Hinata opened her eyes slowly to find they were right by the dressing room "better go get dressed to fight…" he said softly as the sand arm dissipated. Hinata nodded and then stood on her toes to give Gaara a quick peck on the cheek before running off blushing into the dressing room. Gaara shook his head softly and then walked on up to the balcony next to Kara and Kismet. Kismet laughed "Gaara you got lipstick on your cheek." Kara laughed and then licked her finger and rubbed it off of Gaara's cheek. Gaara saw Neji had stayed in his clothes _so confident…._Gaara thought _probably deserves to be too judging from his chakra size._ Just then the door opened and Hinata stepped out wearing just what she was before, her jeans, a tie-dye t-shirt, and her black hoodie (poke poke Hinata :P ) Gaara shook his head "this will be interesting."

Kakashi nodded "begin" he said. Neji and Hinata started by activating their Byakugan as veins appeared on the sides of their eyes and their Iris' disappeared. Both could now see each other's chakra points and they assumed fighting stance. Kakashi smirked "so both of them use the Hyuuga fighting style…" Naruto spoke up "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" he asked loudly as the two fighters below were slapping each other's strikes away from each other and lightly tapping each other instead of trying to hurt each other. Kakashi shook his head "The Hyuuga's blood line limit, the Byakugan, is said to be related to the Sharingan but its insight capabilities are said to be better than the Sharingan. The Byakugan allows the user to see the chakra points of their opponents and since they can see this they make use of it by instead of trying to cause the opponent physical damage like Taijutsu, they break the chakra outlets on their opponents by hitting them and sending a quick powerful burst of their own chakra through them, it may not look like a threat but if they break enough it could be life threatening. So this makes the match even more interesting, also the relation between the two, they're cousins." He said with an amused look on his face. Naruto was still confused "what does that have to do with anything?" Kakashi sighed and said "because in the Hyuuga there is the main family which rules the clan with an iron fist and the branch family which lives to serve the main family. Neji is from the branch family, even though he is the most promising child the Hyuuga family has produced, and still he is limited to branch family positions because of his birth and Hinata is the daughter of the Main family and she is next in line to rule even though Neji is more powerful than she is. Also, typically the branch family has a grudge with the main family at their limited influence in the family. So Neji has a score to settle with the main family and is no doubt going to take it out on Hinata….she could die…" he said seriously as Naruto gasped.

Sabaku no Gaara had known most of what Kakashi had just explained to Naruto, but what he didn't know was how much the branch family hated their position, and he could sense the hate beneath him from Neji. He watched as Neji and Hinata landed blow after blow on each other _determined…I like this fight…its…invigorating._ He thought as he played with his sand and watched Hinata battle it out, losing, but putting up a valiant fight. "Hinata-sama, you can do it." He said softly.

Hinata ducked, swirled, and blocked in a blaze of movement. She was as graceful as she was deadly and that is what mattered in this deadly duel. Neji hammered two of her chakra points as she hammered two of his from the side. _I can't keep this up forever, its so tiring._ She thought as she blocked another of Neji's strikes feeling the hate emanate off of him. _Why does he hate me so much?_ She thought as he landed a solid hit on her heart chakra sending her flying back. She hit the floor rolling and coughed up blood. She stood up wearily _this isn't done yet…_she thought but felt her heart spasm and she coughed up more blood.

Neji responded by jumping and hitting her two chakra points on her shoulders then sweeping her off her feet with a low kick. He smirked with satisfaction at seeing her cough up more blood _yes, suffer! Suffer for making my father die for yours! Suffer for the crimes of your Main branch! I'll end this…_Neji made the tiger sign with one of his hands and gathered his chakra around him, making a green yin-yang appear beneath him "Guardian of the 8 seals of Divination….64 strikes!" he said as he closed his eyes and his body moved with his chakra trying to land two strikes "2 strikes!" he said only as his fingers touched something rough, evil and full of hate, fear struck him as he faltered "4 strikes!" he said trying to reach the poor girl on the other side of the brown haze that he ended up hitting "8 strikes!" he said still only hitting brown sand "16 strikes!" he said as he hit still nothing but sand. "32 strikes!" he said panicking as he was still hitting the sand "64 strikes!" he yelled as he hit nothing but air and found himself bound by the wrists to the ankles bending backwards. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS STUFF?" he yelled.

Sabaku no Gaara was amazed that the sand protected Hianta, he had not instructed the sand to protect Hinata and disable Neji. He smirked seeing how Neji was bound. Kakashi smirked _so he does feel…_ "That's game, it's a draw." He said as Neji cried out "NO! I HAD HER! WHERE DID THIS SAND COME FROM?" he yelled. Kakashi shrugged "number one rule of ninjutsu, a ninja is a master of his environment, which means taking into account for terrain changes." Neji growled and fell down when the sand dissipated off of his arms and ankles.

Hinata gasped as she saw the sand intervene in between herself and Neji's attack that could have quiet possibly killed her. Not only did it block for her but it also incarcerated him for her. _Gaara-kun….he protected me…_she thought and then looked up to Kakashi and fainted when he said "Draw".

Kismet and Kara were stunned to see Gaara act like that _he's never acted like that before, never so selflessly…that's…wow…_Kismet frowned _I'm losing control of him…_Kara smiled and shot a wink at Kismet as if to say _its not over yet, Hinata still has a chance._ Kismet stuck her tongue at her and walked away switching her hips. _I'll show her…I'll finish it today, Gaara is mine…_

Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand and appeared next to Hinata. He bent down, which he never did, and instead of using his sand to pick her up he actually carried her bridal style, her head curled and propped itself up against his chest. He stood up slowly as to not disturb her and Neji growled "you interfered in my match." _You interfered with my revenge_ he thought. "I challenge you, right here, right now." He said in a similar monotone as Gaara. Gaara nodded and Kakashi shrugged "great…I find us one transfer student to replace the one we lost and now I'm going to have to find another…." He sighed "how troublesome." Neji charged Gaara and threw a flurry of attacks at his chakra points, but he was not fast enough and the sand effortlessly intervened. Neji stared in horror as he looked into Gaara's eyes with his Byakugan.

Neji froze at what he saw a giant raccoon made out of sand laughed psychotically inside of his head and he felt the loneliness of Gaara echo through him _this amount of pain…its…astounding…_he thought as he fell back "How…how can you withstand that?" he asked slightly afraid as Gaara still stared at him with the hollow stare of before "because I have something to live for" Gaara said in his monotone. Neji started to throw his attacks faster and more powerful but Gaara's defense was absolute. Neji growled "Who are you?" he asked warily as he jumped back a few meters. Gaara closed his eyes and opened them slowly "I am Sabaku no Gaara and I live to end all existences." His eyes became bloodshot "and you are Hyuuga Neji……and you tried to hurt me…..otherwise my sand would not have interfered." his eyes flared up and his psychotic grin spread across his face "and no one hurts Sabaku no Gaara and lives." Neji backed away horrified at the amount of anger, psychosis, and hurt was contained in Gaara. Gaara's sand encircled Neji and constricted him. Neji bowed his head _I lost, I deserve to die_ he thought until Kara appeared and broke the sand with a pressure kick to the side, which spilled Neji onto the ground "don't you dare Gaara, not today, you've already had your blood earlier…..leave this one alone…" she said deathly serious. Gaara grabbed his head as he couldn't understand what she was doing and why she was doing that for him. "Kara…." He said almost showing emotion in his voice. Kara winced knowing this was hurting him but also knowing that she couldn't let Neji die……_he's too cute to die…_she thought blushing slightly.

Neji looked up as his vision cleared and breath returned to him. He knelt before Gaara and said "you have bested me, I am in your debt for sparing my life." He said softly. Gaara looked at Kara accusingly and Kara shrugged "I have no need of your debt…." Gaara said as he turned and walked away carrying Hinata but not knowing why his sand protected her. Kara said "drop your vendetta and your debt will be forgiven." She said seriously however Neji shook his head "That I can never do but nevertheless I am still in your debt and when the time comes I shall fulfill that debt." He said as he rose and limped away as the bell rang. Kara couldn't help but sigh "so honorable….and…hot…and…powerful…" she said as if in a dream. Sakura and Ino dragged her to the car. Gaara laid Hinata down on the laps of all the girls, so it was less squished than usual. Gaara climbed into the drivers seat "is everyone set?" he asked in his monotone. Everyone nodded but Kismet "uhh…Gaara what did you do to Naruto?" Gaara smirked as he remembered.

Ten minutes ago…..An annoyed Gaara carried the light Hinata in his arms toward the car. Regretfully, the orange clothed ninja Naruto had followed him "Nice one with that Neji! You really showed his stuck up ass what was what!" he laughed uncontrollably annoying Gaara every second of it. Gaara got an evil idea, an awful evil idea as he placed Hinata in the backseat before anyone was there. "You know Naruto, I have a special favor to ask of you." He said in his monotone. Naruto cocked his head to the side "what do you mean?" Gaara kept a straight face, he was extremely good at that, and said "could you check in my trunk and make sure that the giant pot of ramen I bought at lunch hasn't spilled?" Naruto's eyes got starry-eyed "sure Gaara!" he went around to the back with Naruto and opened the trunk. Naruto climbed in "I don't see any ramen" he said Gaara smirked "well its really far in the back…" he said "possibly all the way in the back." Naruto scooted to the very back "I still don't see any ramen…." Gaara couldn't help but chuckle as he closed the trunk and locked it. It took a second for Naruto to realize what he had done "GAARA! YOU TRICKED ME AND ITS HOT! GAHH!" he whined but it came out as "GAAHAKAODKDHSUL!"

Back in the present, "Oh him?I don't have the faintest…." He chuckled and floored the accelerator as something big hit the back of the trunk with a distinct THUNK followed by "MOFHOLFHT!" and Ino sighed "Naruto's locked himself in the trunk again…." Gaara smirked "yeah…that's it…" he said agreeing with her. Sasuke piped up "at least its a lot more quiet now." The whole car laughed in agreement while a string of curses echoed from the trunk.

----end----


	14. Chapter 13:The Avenger and The Monster

Chapter 13: The Avenger, The Fox, and The Monster

A/N: Alright! 73 reviews! YAY! They make me so happy keep them coming and I'll keep updating 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters, plots ect….

_It's so…so…hot…in here…_ The young shinobi thought _its cramped, stuffy, hot and smelly……and what's worse….no RAMEN!_ He gathered some chakra to himself had crossed his fingers "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!" he said as he multiplied over and over again making the trunk bulge and burst as shadow clones tumbled out the back of the car dissipating when they hit the road in a cloud of smoke. The original orange clothed shinobi flew out as well but grabbed ahold of the edge of the car just in time. _WHY?_ He asked himself as he hung on for dear life never realizing how fast Gaara drove down the speedway. _WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?_ He thought remorsefully as he climbed back in the trunk with all his strength and sat down resting.

Gaara pulled into his driveway and as everyone got out they gasped. There with bugs splattered on his face, his clothes torn from the wind and debris that had kicked up and hit him, was Uzamaki Naruto! Naruto growled and walked up to Gaara "Ramen….." Gaara and everyone laughed as Kara took pity on him and said "go get showered and changed and we'll all go out for Ramen." Naruto's face perked up and he raced into the house and up the stairs to shower. Gaara looked at his sister disapprovingly and she glared back at him. Gaara's eyes narrowed and he walked into the house angry, as always. Kismet pushed through and went into the house plopping down on the sofa and turning on the TV. Hinata sat down on a plush chair and curled up with a book minding her own business. Gaara was in the training room punching his dummies repeatedly taking out his seemingly endless reserve of anger. Naruto and Sasuke came in wearing training clothes "feel like sparring Gaara? Of course you can always step down like a coward" Sasuke said with a confident smirk on his face. Gaara looked at the "lets go" he said bored.

Kara watched from above in the rafters _why can't he just let it go?_ She wondered. She jumped as she heard a voice from the shadows "because he doesn't feel anything but the anger……and if he lets that go, he's afraid he will feel nothing." Kismet whispered also watching Gaara train from the rafters. Kara frowned and asked "What are you doing here?" Kismet smirked "The thing I do best, sneaking." They stopped bickering and looked back down on Gaara watching him do sit ups from a curl bar. He still had on his stoic face as he worked out hating everything. His sand seemed to sense his mood and started to twist and turn around him menacingly. Gaara thought _music…I need music…_

The sand responded as it went over to his stereo and activated it. He growled as he let the hate soar through him, he activated the training program.

Sasuke and Naruto got into fighting stance and readied themselves. Sasuke's hands made the symbols of Gyukyu no jutsu and a flame ball spat out from his mouth and Gaara floated above it using the sand then wrapped him in sand and threw him into the wall. Naruto had already created shadow clones of himself and had sprung on Gaara. Gaara growled as he lashed out again and again wildly with his sand making each shadow clone disappear. Naruto helped Sasuke up and Sasuke threw a wind shiruken at Gaara. Gaara concentrated and started actually moving instead of relying upon his sand to block it. The wind shiruken missed him by inches as his sand couldn't put up enough resistance to stop it. Sasuke made the symbols "Tiger, Dragon, horse, crane, monkey." As a ball of chattering blue and white light formed at his arm "CHIDORI!" Sasuke said as he charged Gaara. Gaara's eyes widened as he made the seals "ox, monkey, horse, dragon. Ultimate Sand Defense" and a giant ball of sand appeared in front of him just as Sasuke tried to ram his Chidori into him. The Chidori hit the giant ball of sand making a small dent. Sasuke's hand was stuck in the ball of sand. Gaara heard a poof sound and turned around too late to see that the wind shiruken had transformed back into Naruto or a Naruto clone and had launched himself at the now defenseless Gaara. Gaara brought up his hands to block the punch but then suprising them by grabbing Naruto's hands and dropping to the ground, planting a foot into Naruto's stomach and throwing him at the stuck Sasuke. Gaara dissipated his Ultimate Sand Defense and the sand immediately came back to him, whirling around as he spoke "my turn…"

Kara and Kismet sighed "boys….on a testosterone high…"they shook their heads at the warring guys below them. Kismet pursed her lips thoughtfully "though, I guess that it is best that they train against each other that way they can learn from each other's unique fighting style and they don't have any hard feelings afterwards…" Kara interrupted her "no, if they ever Challenge Gaara too much he will disappear and….Shukaku will come out…" she said softly. Kismet looked at her "have you been smoking crack? What the hell is a Shukaku?" Kara growled and said "Shukaku is the Incarnate of Sand that is trapped inside Gaara….its what gives him his power to control the sand……but….he can't sleep because if he does….Shukaku eats his personality little by little…….that's why he has those lines around his eyes." She said softly as if it were a big secret. Kismet perked an eyebrow "I like the idea of making love to a demon…." She wondered as Kara slapped her "shut up you slut! This is why I don't like your effect on Gaara, you're perverted and evil." Kismet growled and said "that's it, I'm sick of your self righteous talk meet me on the tennis court after this battle and we'll settle it. If you win, I back off on Gaara; if I win you back off on calling me an evil slut and let me have my way with Gaara." Kara nodded "sounds good, be there." Kara disappeared in a flash of speed.

Gaara licked his lips and made the tiger sign with his hands as he directed the sand towards Naruto. Naruto jumped out of the way and grabbed Sasuke's hand. Sasuke swung him around like a dance partner finally letting go as Naruto sailed through the air towards Gaara with fist outstretched. Gaara's sand came up blocking Naruto's attack just as Sasuke disappeared in a flash almost as fast as Rock Lee did. Gaara turned around to see Sasuke's foot in his face. Gaara flew back two feet as Sasuke smirked "can't keep up Gaara, two on one is hard enough but when one is too fast for your sand…" he trailed off. Gaara grabbed Naruto with his sand only to have him disappear in a poof of smoke. "where is he?" he asked himself as Sasuke desperately tried to find another opening, kicking and punching all over Gaara's Shield of Sand. Suddenly he was attacked from both sides by not one but TWO Sasukes! Gaara growled as both of their attacks slammed into his face, sending him skidding across the floor for two feet. Gaara watched as both Sasuke's hands made the exact same seals as before and both exclaimed at the same time "CHIDORI!" Gaara was for the first time in a long time……afraid. The balls of chittering blue energy advanced on him as the Sasuke's charged him head on.

Gaara's mind fought for calm, the raging fear and uncertantity had to be put aside if he were to win this fight. He cleared his head the only way he knew how……he let the memories come. He instinctively grabbed the side of his head as the memories flooded his mind washing all doubt, fear, and every other emotion out of his head……replacing it with only one simple emotion…..Hate. The sand immediately responded with a silent glee as its movements became faster and its intuition became higher. The Chidori went through his sand only to have the sand grab the Sasuke's wrists and redirect the Chidori right into their own Chests! The Sasuke's screamed and flew across the room, slamming into the wall and sliding down bloodied and tired. Gaara smirked with satisfaction "had enough….Sasuke?" he asked as the Sasuke's disappeared in a poof of smoke revealing two Naruto's and once disappeared in a poof of smoke as the other smiled "gotcha Gaara…." He laughed weakly before passing out. Gaara looked around desperately looking for Sasuke _if that was Naruto where is Sasuke?_ He asked himself getting more and more desperate every minute.

Kismet growled seeing Gaara instead of improve, start to get weaker _It appears he needs a suitable rival to keep him sharp…_she thought as she disappeared in a flash of speed, grabbing Sasuke as Naruto transformed into Sasuke to keep Gaara busy. "Sasuke, I am in need of your….particular skills" she whispered as she elongated her incisor teeth. Sasuke tilted his head to the side confused "what?" Kismet rolled her eyes "no time to explain, to make it short…..kill your brother for me…." She whispered as she bit into his neck unexpectantly leaving the Cursed Seal on his neck as three spiraling dots. He growled as the dark power surged through him "it…." Kismet smirked "now…go give Gaara a run for his money…" she laid back exhausted from the transfer and watched as Sasuke fell down out of the rafters to the floor below. One word echoed through his mind as he fell _Itachi…_ he grimaced as the seal took over, spreading black flames all over his body, shooting raw purple and black chakra through his veins. His eyes snapped open, his Sharingan activated, and he turned himself right side up, anger rising to him. He landed with a clop right in front of Gaara. Gaara's eyes narrowed "seems you've gotten a tan" he remarked wryly. Sasuke didn't bother with witty banter and disappeared. He appeared right next to Gaara and stuck out a fist the sand wrapping around his hand cutting him. Sasuke didn't mind the blood _his sand's gotten faster…_he thought disappearing and appearing above Gaara throwing Shirukens, and disappearing again. _I have to keep moving…cant give his sand a rest…_he thought as he continued to throw punches and kicks all over Gaara's shield of sand. The sand was not stupid, it started detecting the fatal flaw of Rock Lee again…….a pattern.

Sasuke continued his barrage of kicks and punches, his black hair ruffleing in the artificial wind that was generated by his movements. _This power…it is unlike anything I've ever experienced…_he thought as he continued to fight finally breaching the sand and landing a solid hit on Gaara from below, sending him up into the air. Sasuke pressed his advantage and kicked him higher and higher into the air. Sasuke then smirked and slammed his foot into Gaara's stomach sending him plummeting to the ground in a crater. _I've done it….I've beaten Gaara…_ Sasuke thought not noticing the dark presence eminating from the crater.

Gaara's sand armor was cracked and falling off in pieces, his chakra was low and his temper was flaring _NO ONE HURTS SABAKU NO GAARA!_ He thought as his sand collected itself back onto him. He felt his shoulder twitch and the familiar hate that spread when 'that' mark he had activated. A dark green chakra started pouring off of him in vast amounts, _what…what is this?_ He thought as Chakra started filling him and his wounds started to heal. He rose slowly on the plate of sand out of the crater finding a confident Sasuke congratulating himself "its not over, Uchiha…" he said dripping with venom. Sasuke turned around only to be greeted by a massive wave of sand that slammed him into the wall. Gaara's hate soared and blood lust took over _tiger, ox, monkey, horse, dragon_ he thought as his hands made the appropriate seals and he yelled "DESERT TIDAL WAVE!" Sand seemed to cumulate behind him in a giant wave that threatened to crush Sasuke with its mere weight. Sasuke was paralyzed with fear _what…how…how…_he couldn't even finish his thoughts before the sand started to pound him mercilessly. Gaara's smile was compeletly insane and psychotic. He seemed to take perverse pleasure in making Sasuke suffer by slamming the sand over and over again into him. There was a distinct CRACK of bone against sand and Sasuke let out a yell and passed out, his cursed seal deactivating.

Uzamaki Naruto was awakened by the yell from Sasuke, he stood drowsily realizing he was still in the training room with Gaara. Gaara turned around with his insane grin and wrapped both Sasuke and Naruto in sand "Sabaku Kyu!" he said as the sand formed coffins around them. Gaara strectched out his hand and was about to close it when it was suddenly entangled with another's hand, a soft silky ivory colored hand. His sea green eyes then met Grey orbs that looked so sensitive and deep. His voice faltered "Sa…Sa.." he couldn't say it as a certain Hyuuga Heiress placed her lips on his softly. Gaara's eyes closed slowly as he returned the kiss with as much tenderness as the giver. _Where am I getting these emotions? How do I know how to kiss gently?_ He asked himself still kissing Hinata. A voice from the back of his mind spoke up _Cause you didn't kill me when you had the chance…_his inner romantic said softly. _What? How did you survive?_ He asked his heart _I'm not so sure I know and I'm not so sure I care….I just know that I'm here to cause some MAJOR changes in you…_

The cursed seal deactivated on Gaara and his chakra dropped back to normal. Hinata broke the kiss and buried her blushing face into shirt wanting to be held. Gaara's arms instinctively circled around her and held her close letting her stay there. The sand coffins disintegrated as Sasuke and Naruto dropped down out of them, unconscious. Gaara growled inwardly _You…and now I am holding the most emotional girl out of the group….the one girl who wont give into my desires…the one girl who wont have sex with me! WHY?_ The only response from his heart was a snicker _because you tried to kill me….and because you're meant for each other…though more towards the first reason…_Gaara growled _even my heart has an attitude…_

---end---


	15. Chapter 14: Truth and Lies

Chapter 14: Truth and Lies

A/N: Hey all, thanks for all these reviews they make my day  anyways, I'm up to the big 76! W00t! Well I lost some inspiration for the school aspect of this so I'm going to be fast forwarding between weekends and stuff but every now and then you'll get a taste of the school lol. Well please leave a review even if you don't think that your opinion matters, cause it does  it matters a ton!

It had been a few weeks since that last battle between Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, and Panda-chan. (IE Gaara if you don't remember from the earlier chapter, which I must admit I stole from another fanfic but its still cool) Sasuke's broken arm had healed and so had his bruised pride. Naruto had bounced back just as usual and for once all was well with the house. Kara and Kismet fought each other on the tennis court resulting in a double K.O. The two had become grudging friends after realizing neither could fully best the other, Kismet had promised to curtail her 'spunk' if Kara would 'loosen up'. Gaara's heart had started to cause subtle changes in him that were not noticed by most…….but Hinata was not most. She knew that something was happening to Gaara, if not only for the reason that he did not seem to ignore her, but because he returned her stares and sometimes blushes. Meanwhile Neji had been getting closer to Kara every day, inviting her out to movies, over to his house, out to dinner, out to the park or anywhere basically. Gaara had become suspicious because sometimes she would come home two or three hours after she was supposed to be finished and then she would rush up to her room without even saying why. This was suspicious to Gaara and the others but not to Kismet who knew exactly what was happening. We find them right in the middle of one such event………

_Whew…the lights are off…that must mean everyone's already gone to sleep…_ the brown haired girl thought as she closed the door softly behind her and locked it. She leaned against the door and sighed "oh that was amazing…." She said out loud barely above a whisper. "Oh really? Do tell…" a voice responded that was as harsh as the sand that accompanied him at all times. Kara gasped as the lights clicked on and there sat Sabaku No Gaara along with Hinata-sama, Naruto-kun and Ino-chan, Sasuke-kun and Sakura-san, and finally Kismet. Kara let out a sound that resembled a camel choking on water. There stood Kara, her shirt disheveled, her skirt crumpled and her make up smeared. "you been out long?" said the soulless voice that Hinata seemed to be clinging onto. Kara gulped "Ga…Gaara…" she sputtered knowing she'd been caught. Gaara put up a hand indicating he wanted silence, Kara's mouth shut. "You've been spending a lot of time out with that Neji guy…..and been sneaking back in…….I don't like my house being snuck into." Kara could merely nod. Gaara looked into Kara's eyes "what have you been doing with him?" he asked dead serious. Kara looked around nervously not wanting to meet those empty sea green eyes "uh…not…nothing" she stuttered. "Right….well……I gave you a chance to tell the truth…….." Gaara said seriously as his sand suddenly ripped Kara's shirt off, she immediately covered her modesty "surprising you don't have a bra on." He said letting the feeling of being betrayed seep into his voice.

_Shit….shit….shit…shit…_was all that ran through Kara's mind as she covered her modesty, wishing for a third hand to cover the bruises on her neck and upper body. _Why…why have I been lying to Gaara…._she thought desperately as she searched around the room for a sympathetic face, catching none…..not even Kismet. _I'm fucked…_she thought softly.

Gaara shook his head hiding the pain that she had caused him "and those bruises on your neck…..did you fall?" he asked glaring at her, his voice dripping with venom. Kara couldn't take it anymore, the stares, the judgments, the shame, and Gaara's face. _He only puts on that face when he's trying to hide his emotions…..usually hurt….he feels betrayed…What have I done?_ She thought as she fell to the ground on her knees "No…I…I didn't fall…." She winced "I…Neji…" she didn't know how to say it, she didn't want to say it, she wanted to disappear as a shadow and run away from the pain. "we…." She started looking down, not wanting to meet Gaara's gaze. She broke down finally "IM SORRY GAARA!" she sobbed. "I AND KISMET AND SASUKE AND HINATA AND EVERYONE!" she didn't care if she looked weak crying like this "YOU ALL HAVE SOMEONE AND I HAD NO ONE! IM SORRY I DECIDED TO GET A LIFE!" she said as she bawled her heart out. "YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING? HUH!" she slammed her fist down on the floor "NEJI HAS BEEN FUCKING MY BRAINS OUT! AND I LOVE HIM!" she screamed and cried at the same time.

Gaara shook his head slowly and sand started to circle Kara "No one lies to me….no one betrays me…." His eyes began to water as the sand started to close over Kara. Hinata touched his arm and stroked his face meeting his gaze "please Gaara-kun…don't….she's your sister…" she asked softly as if she were going to cry. Gaara's sea green eyes softened and he blinked away the tears. The sand fell away from Kara and Kara sat their on the ground shivering and shaking from the tears. Gaara looked at her _pathetic…_he thought but then a voice in his head said _go comfort her…go on get up…_Gaara stuffed that voice to the back of his mind. _Come on Gaara…have a heart…I have a really good feeling that if you help her you will look more heroic in Hinata-sama's mind…_Gaara growled at himself _well shut up unless you want that 'good feeling' replaced with 'blinding pain'…_his heart sighed and let him do as he pleased.

Ino looked down on Kara with an aching heart _poor girl…I remember when I got caught for my first time too…_Ino sighed _but I didn't get any help…..I had to deal with it on my own….and maybe it was for the best…._she rationalized not wanting to be the one to stick up for Kara. A small voice in the back of her head said _but look how you turned out…..you were a whore….well…at least until Naruto-kun showed up….do you want that for her?_ Ino sighed and shook her head _she's stronger than me….she doesn't need anything from me…_she rationalized as she sat there and watched Kara's tears fall.

Sakura shook her head softly _I remember that feeling…I'd help her if I knew what to say…I…I just don't know what to do…what if Sasuke-kun were to think I was weak if I tried to help her….I dealt with the pain on my own….so can she…_she thought as she snuggled closer to Sasuke not wanting to see Kara in this much pain but too paralyzed to do anything about it. _I can only hope that she will be alright…and that Gaara won't kill her…_

Hinata gripped Gaara's arm tightly _Kara…why…_she thought blushing at her language. _Why did you do that….that's not supposed to happen before marriage…._she thought softly as she stroked Gaara's arm calming him down so he would not do anything rash. "Gaara…she's your sister…" she whispered in his ear pleadingly. She felt him give a "hn" as a response. He kissed his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder _That makes me alone….but….I could never…do 'that' before….and maybe even during….its just so scary…_she thought nuzzling her way into his sleeve taking comfort in his soft black shirt ((poke poke Hinata : P)) _I'd help her…but I'm doing all I can….just to keep Gaara calm…_

Kara sat there sobbing uncontrollably; she wrapped her own arms around herself as no one would comfort her. She cried and cried _why do I feel so dirty now? Why do I feel like I've done something wrong?_ She thought as she continued to pour her heart out knowing no one would stick up for her against Gaara's wrath. Suddenly her vision was filled with a tan figure dressed in a black miniskirt and a familiar blood red tank top. _Kismet?_ She thought stunned. Kismet growled to Gaara and the others "HOW DARE YOU MAKE HER FEEL SO BAD! SO WHAT IF SHE ISN'T A VIRGIN ANY MORE? NONE OF YOU ARE!" she screamed defending Kara. Hinata looked at her and quietly said "I am…" Kismet growled "YOU DON'T COUNT! YOU'RE INHUMAN!" she lashed out at Hinata only to have Gaara's sand catch her by the throat and start to strangle her "don't you ever lash out at her again, or I will make sure that you join the rest of your village in the afterlife." He said in his monotone as Hinata's eyes watered both from her insult and from Gaara's jump to protect her. Kismet gurgled an affirmative. The sand released her and slunk back to Gaara. Kismet panted for breath and shot Gaara a glare "How can you sit there and pass judgment on her for following her heart and instincts?" she spat still venomous. Gaara was going to kill her with his sand but Hinata whispered "no…Gaara-kun…please don't…" Gaara frowned and relented. Instead he said softly "You think I am angry because she fucked Neji?" his anger intensified and he narrowed his eyes "No….she can fuck who ever she wants, I don't care…..what I am angry about…….is her lying to me…."

Silence permeated the room except for Kara's sniveling. "I don't tolerate liars…..especially….when they are my own sister…." He said in his monotone. "I trusted you sister……..but now…it turns out you are like everyone else….." he turned away from her and walked slowly to the stairs to the roof "you've betrayed me this day Kara…..I will not forget it…." He said as he walked up the stairs to be alone. No one followed him and Kara broke down with new tears "I'm so sorry Gaara!" she yelled after him but her pleas fell on deaf ears. With Gaara gone all the girls rushed to comfort Kara in her time of need. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and shrugged "How could Gaara be so mean to Kara-sama?" he asked bewildered. Sasuke sighed in annoyance "what do you mean? You didn't see this coming? She was the only person that Gaara trusted and she betrayed his trust by lying to him all this time about where she was and what she was doing………she cut Gaara deep….and I think she accomplished the impossible……she actually may have mortally wounded Gaara." He said softly. Naruto nodded slowly "oh…" Naruto and Sasuke both left the girls for their alone time and instead decided to go to the roof to try and talk to Gaara. _Hn…I don't like to admit it…but Gaara…and Naruto…have actually grown close to me….that now I actually care what happens to them….damn it…_Sasuke thought as he and Naruto ascended the stairs to the roof.

Kara sobbed into Kismet's red tank top "What have I done?" she asked softly. Kismet, Hinata, Ino and Sakura sighed as they tried to comfort her but she would have none of it. "No…it was my fault….I shouldn't have lied to him…or any of you…I…..I'm so sorry…" she murmured as the tears stopped falling. Kismet sighed "look, Gaara will get over it…..I mean….its not like you two were very close or anything…..and what business of his is this?" she asked. Kara sobbed again "I'm his OLDER sister, He trusted me, he talked to me about things that no one else could hear….I was his stability….and now he doesn't have any base….now he could fly off the deep end at any moment…its his business because I told him I'd tell him everything if he told me everything….it was the only promise someone had ever made to him that they hadn't broken….and now…..I broke it!" she wailed as she felt so much remorse for not telling him. Hinata looked at her in the eyes and took her hand softly "don't worry…Gaara-kun will…he will listen to me…and he will…forgive" she said softly and pulled Kara into a hug. "Thank you….Hinata-sama…."Kara whispered into her ear. She pulled away from the hug and looked at Kismet "Thank you….for trying to defend me…"she mumbled. Kismet smirked "Now I can't let you die, can I? then who would I annoy so endlessly?" she teased. She went to the pantry and smiled as she pulled out tubs of ice cream "come on, nothing solves the blues like ice cream and chick flicks!" she smiled as all the girls perked up and Kara smiled thankful for once that Kismet was living there with them _maybe I misjudged her…_

Sasuke and Naruto pushed open the door to the roof of the magnificent estate to find Gaara sitting in a lawn chair looking up at the moon with a beer clasped with a sand hand and a cigarette in his regular hand. He looked up at the full moon and blew out a puff of smoke "I knew you'd come" he said in his monotone. Sasuke nodded and trudged up to Gaara pulling out a cigarette from his own pocket along with a Zippo. ((I don't own Zippo lighter company either)) He lit up and leaned against the wall right next to Gaara's lawn chair "you sure know how to pick 'em" Sasuke said slowly referring to Hinata and Kismet. Naruto walked up and fished around in his pockets only to discover that Ino had stolen his cigarettes because she wanted him to stop "fuck…Ino took all my cigs" he said. Sasuke laughed and said "wow, she banged you then robbed you." When Gaara heard this he smirked "here…" he said extended his pack to Naruto with the sand. Naruto grabbed one "thanks, Gaara" he said as he lit up with Sasuke's Zippo. Gaara shook his head "no problem." His sand stored his cigs in his gourd and still held the beer in place for him. Sasuke looked to him "don't suppose you brought any more?" he asked pointing to the beer. Gaara shook his head "nah, but grab one out of the mini-fridge." He said pointing to the small cooler next to him. Sasuke grabbed one and tossed it behind him to Naruto who caught it smoothly, then he took one out for himself and closed the cooler. "you're pretty cool when you want to be Gaara…" Sasuke said truthfully as he opened his beer easily. Naruto smirked "yeah, you're a good guy whether you want to admit it or not." He tried to open his beer like Sasuke but the cap wouldn't budge. "grrr…" he growled as he tried to pry the cap off with his teeth only to succeed in cutting his gums with it "FUCK!" he yelled jumping up and down pointing to his mouth. Sasuke and Gaara laughed as Naruto banged the bottle on the ledge trying to pry the cap off but it still wouldn't budge. "DAMN!" Naruto swore as he threw the bottle down on the ground and kicked it trying to open it. Gaara laughed and grabbed the beer with his sand, twisting the cap off easily with the sand he handed it to Naruto "there…"he said laughing as Naruto grumbled about him and Sasuke to stop acting so cool. Sasuke took a drink of his beer and said "Gaara….you handled that well…..back there" he motioned with his head to down the stairs "I would have flipped out….but…you…kept your cool…I admire that." He said giving a rare compliment. Gaara nodded "I don't get angry easily….but when I do…..you best get the fuck out of my way…" he said more of a warning than a statement. Naruto shrugged "same with all of us though….you get all of us pissed off and well…..I don't think anything could stop us……not even the Hokage…" he said softly. "here here" Sasuke said as they toasted to themselves and laid back watching the moon "we are an unstoppable team…." They all said at the same time. Little did they know that a certain Uchiha was listening in from the distant roof top _Unstoppable….._the figure thought as the tall ivory character dashed off with his Sharingan eyes glowing in the dark _Brother…you are turning into quite the fighter…and your friends….they are quite powerful too…..I must see that Orochimaru does not find out about you….._

---end---


	16. Chapter 15: A Band and A Heart Ache

Chapter 15: A Band and A Heart Ache

A/N: In case you all didn't know I am writing this fic as I go, It is not already written or anything so don't expect an ending soon. Don't worry I aim to please and the masses have spoken! MORE GAARA AND HIGHSCHOOL! I was going to end this fic around chapter 30 but now I am extending it to chapter 45 and then I will begin a sequel……Shinobi Legends: The Fox, The Avenger and The Monster. I'm already making plans for it so be on the look out after this fic ends but until then enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Chronicles of Riddick

Gaara looked forlornly at the moon and said softly "Do you ever feel like you're alone?" he asked Sasuke and Naruto who were still on the roof with him. Sasuke looked up and took a drink of his beer "yeah……all the time…I just try not to think about it…" he said softly. Naruto nodded "no doubt about it……I feel alone a lot…". Gaara sighed and said "the only thing that keeps me sane is my music….". Naruto and Sasuke nodded slowly "yeah, our music is a breath of fresh air, it removes the tension and the hate so that we can breathe…" Gaara closed his eyes and said "music is what calms the savage beast…" he sighed softly taking another drag on his cigarette. Naruto choked on his smoke and threw the cigarette over the ledge frustrated and cursing. When Sasuke and Gaara finished laughing their asses off and when Naruto had finally gotten enough oxygen to his brain to speak he said "hey I've got a crazy idea!" Sasuke rolled his eyes "and that's different from any day how?" Gaara chuckled and Naruto shook his head. "NO! I MEAN THAT WE COULD START A BAND!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke and Gaara sat there stunned.

Meanwhile downstairs, Kara had changed and had stopped crying from earlier. She snuggled on the couch watching The Notebook with the other girls. She took a spoonful of chocolate ice cream from the gallon of ice cream that they were all sharing and smiled. _These are the times I'll always remember…._she thought as she looked to Kismet_ and who would have thought that my worst enemy would turn out not to be so bad…..and the closest thing to a close friend that I have…._She sighed _but still…..I don't know what I'm going to say to Gaara…_

Sasuke and Gaara seemed to ponder this until Naruto spoke up again "I could do drums, Sasuke could do bass, Gaara you could do vocals and guitar!". Gaara hated to admit it but he liked the idea, he had learned the guitar as a way of expressing himself but he didn't share that with anyone. _Where did they learn to play the bass and the drums…_he thought and then Sasuke spoke up "well if we are actually going to do this we need at least one hot chick so that people don't think that we're gay" He said smirking. Gaara finally broke his silence "what will we call ourselves?" he asked as he tried to think who would be the chick in their band _she would have to have no shame…she would have to be good in a fight…she would have to be able to attract people to our concerts…hmmm….Kismet…_he thought. "well I don't think anyone will object to Kismet being our girl…" Gaara said as he received an affirmative from Naruto and Sasuke. "but we need something for her to do other than be up on stage and look pretty…" he said softly. Sasuke looked at him and said "I hear her playing her guitar at night, maybe she could be main guitar and you could just have yours strapped to yourself just incase you feel like busting out a solo or something in addition to your vocals?" he asked knowing that it made sense. Gaara laughed and said "alright, alright, you talked me into it…." He chucked his trash over the side of the roof and started down the stairs. "are you guys coming or not?" he asked as he walked out the door. Sasuke and Naruto did likewise and followed him.

Kara whispered in Kismet's ear "thanks for being there for me….It means a lot to me…" Kismet rolled her eyes and looked into Kara's "Don't think that this means I'm going to be chummy chummy with you, I just don't like people getting judged….." she sighed and went back to watching the movie. Kara smirked _I think that's as close to a 'your welcome' I'm ever going to get out of her…_ she thought playfully. Steps were heard coming down from the roof. Kara turned to see Sasuke and Naruto looking at her. She looked around "where's Gaara?" she asked. Sasuke smirked and pointed up as Kara asked "What on the roof? Damn it if he's just going to sit up there and sulk then I say let him." She said indignantly as she turned around and less than two centimeters from her face, standing upside down on the ceiling was Gaara "You called sister?" he asked in his monotone. Kara freaked out and jumped back like five feet away screaming. Sasuke and Naruto almost died laughing as Kara took five minutes to compose herself and then said "Gaara, it would be a lot easier to talk if you were down here on the floor like the rest of the people." Gaara sighed and melted off the ceiling in a puddle of sand then reformed on the floor. "yes?" he asked in his monotone. Kara turned off the movie much to the protests of the other girls but all Kara had to do to silence them was shoot them a death glare. The girls ejected the DVD and crept upstairs not wanting to hear this tirade.

Gaara glared at her "The only reason I spared you was because of Hinata but you betrayed me Kara…..you of all people…" he looked at her and saw that everyone was upstairs he dropped his guard. His ice cold eyes melted and his stance became that of a hurt child "you…you promised you would never hurt me…." He whispered. Kara sighed and said "I'm sorry Gaara…but I didn't want you to be mad at me…I had to get a life of my own…I had to love someone else besides you…" she said softly. Just then she realized her mistake _oh damn…I should never have used that word…he…he doesn't understand it. _She saw the effects immediately, Gaara was holding his head with one of his hands as if his mind hurt trying to wrap around the concept of love.

"Why… why does everyone understand that word…but me…" he asked to seemingly know one. The answer came in the form of the last words of his last royal care taker "You were not loved, please…Gaara-sama…die…" Gaara held his head not shedding tears because he felt like he had no more, he had shed far too many in his childhood to ever cry again. He swore under his breath as he looked up and tried to pick up his mask of being tough and invincible…..but found it too heavy of a load to pick up. Kara stepped toward him to comfort him like she always did, only to be greeted with a wall of sand blocking her from touching him. "Don't…don't you dare lay a hand on me….traitor…" he said as his eye twitched trying to stop the pain from coming crashing down on him. He heaved for breath, the pain was like a piano on his chest. He let out one tortured tear as he looked at Kara feeling truly alone for the first time in a long time. "I…I was a fool….I trusted you…..and you lied to me…." Gaara grabbed his heart. He stumbled back and Kara tried once more to comfort him "Gaara you can still trust me, I promise I won't betray you again!" she practically cried. Gaara shook his head, his crimson hair moving along with it "no…you…father…mother…" he mumbled trying to restore peace to his mind. Kara sobbed as the sand refused to let her through "Please Gaara…..don't leave me….you're my only family….don't leave…" she whispered as Gaara's sand relented and let her through. She embraced Gaara feeling his soft white skin and said "don't let the demon control you Gaara….please….stay with us….your friends…" she said softly. The aching in his heart subsided somewhat and Gaara sat down calming himself down. Kara brushed her sweat drenched brown hair out of the way and crept away leaving Gaara to his meditations knowing that she had just saved them all from a very swift and violent death.

The crimson droplets of blood ran down Gaara's face, along his arms, his sandy red hair. Sabaku no Gaara was swimming in blood. The five year old boy clenched a teddy bear that was also drenched in blood. The usual dirty brown fur of the bear was now more crimson than brown. The child sat in the corner crying his eyes out _what…what am I?_ he asked himself. The corpse that had been one of the Kazekage's assassins sat propped up against a wall, all the life squeezed out of it by Gaara's sand. _Why am I such a monster?_ He asked himself as he took out a kunai. A sudden strong impulse took over him, the impulse to see his own blood. He cried as he jabbed and jabbed with the kunai trying to slit his vein but each time the sand intervene despite his will. _Why…why does everyone hate me? What am I? What is my purpose?_ He asked himself as more tears spilled over his eyes, the sea green orbs full of pain and suffering and worse yet….clueless as to the reason for it.

The kid Gaara felt the darkness, the pain and the anger threaten to consume him but…the golden brown particles of sand fell all around him and it gave Gaara an idea. Gaara willed the sand to form into a shape, a shape of a human. The golden dust formed the shape of another five year old child. Gaara molded the eyes, the cheeks, the legs, the torso and even the hair lines. He smiled a little and looked at the sand child "Hello…my name's Gaara….what's yours?" he giggled knowing that it wouldn't answer him. However a chilling voice answered in the back of his skull _My name's Shukakku, and I live inside of you Gaara._ Gaara looked at it funny and asked "Will you play with me?" The sand figure's hollow spots that were eyes suddenly sprang to life with weird shapes in the eyes and the sand kid started to move independently of Gaara's will and stood up "sure….lets play…my favorite game…" the sand child said. Gaara cocked his head to the side "what is that?" he asked confused but eager to play with another kid for the first time. "its called…Who's the Better Killer" he said making the sand child smile deviously. Gaara's sea green eyes trembled but he nodded "okay…how do you play?" he asked. Shukakku laughed evilly and Gaara smiled unsurely, not sure that he liked this person but at least he was nice to him and that was more than anyone else had been. He moved a lock of his dusty red hair out of his face and looked up to the sand kid with a somewhat admirable glance "will you teach me?" he asked softly. Shukakku made the sand kid smile "of course…." What followed was the bloodiest massacre in the Village of Hidden Sand's history….luckily it was not in his own Village, he was led by Shukakku to the Village of Hidden Mist and there they still fear the crimson hair kid who came into their village and massacred everyone. There during the massacre was where Gaara learned how to use the sand, how to enjoy killing, and how to love others pain.

_Those lessons Shukakku taught me….I still have not forgotten them…and they have saved my life many times over……he showed me who I was born to be, the monster I could become, and the fate of everyone who tried to get in my way……and for that….I love him as an older brother…he was the only one there when no one else was…he was my only friend…_Gaara though as he brushed aside his only tear that he had shed since then. His golden sand seemed to respond by forming a hand independently of his will and putting it on his shoulder. Gaara sat alone in his room huddled to himself feeling the darkness, the pain, and anger close in on him when suddenly the golden grains of sand seemed to build across the room forming a familiar sand kid, bud older now. Gaara looked up as if seeing his old friend for the first time in a long time "Hello Gaara….ready to play?" the figure asked with an evil smirk.

---end---


	17. Chapter 16: Enter Akatsuki

Chapter 16: Enter Akatsuki

A/N: Hey all, great reviews. I'm glad you all love my fic  Well here is a big land mark chapter, I've been hinting at Itachi and Orochimaru for a couple of chapters and well I think its time I delivered! So here without further ado, is quite possibly one of the best action chapters I've ever written. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own so don't sue!

The Sand figure's mouth gaped and looked down to see Gaara's fist through its stomach. The sand figure lost its shape and dissolved back into formless sand and the voice was silenced…..for now. The red haired shinobi stood slowly and emotionlessly. His head was down and his arms were slack. Sand floated around him as his insane grin spread across his face "I….I sense…challenges" he said softly as he looked up just in time to see part of his roof collapse. The beams cracked and gave way, sending splinters everywhere. Dust clouds rose from the crash as three shadowed figures appeared from the hole in the roof. One had a hunched back and long hair, another was slender with short spiked hair, and finally the last one was a distinctly female shape with shoulder length black hair. The shinobi stood back to back to back dramatically "I take it you are Sabaku no Gaara?" The girl said with a distinctly cocky air to her. Gaara merely smirked and let his sand fall to the ground as to not give away his powers.

"Hn" was all Gaara said in response. "Oi! She asked you a question dirt bag!" the slender male said with an even more cocky tone, if that was possible. The only wise one seemed to be the hunchback who was covered in bandages and on his left arm held some sort of metal device that Gaara could only guess at its purpose. His eyes were a cold and impassive green that seemed to chill the strange new comers. Gaara looked to their heads and saw a music note as their symbol _sound ninjas…_he thought as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at them filling the room with an eerie silence. The silence was suddenly broken by the girl "OI! ARE YOU GAARA OF THE SAND?" she yelled. Gaara's only reply was a couple of sand hands coiling up her legs unexpectedly and encasing her in a cocoon of sand. "Sabaku Sosou" he said as he clenched his out stretched hand and she shrieked as the sand quickly ended her life. He looked at the other sound nins and said bored "Hn". The long haired hunchback sound nin crept forward "I'll handle this one, he's strong." He said wisely obviously what passed for the brains of their group. The one with spiked black hair shook his head "we'll take him together…." Or at least that's what he started to say if his mouth hadn't suddenly erupted with blood and his body hadn't gone sailing through the air crashing into the wall. The hunch back turned around to see a black haired kid wearing a high collared shirt and khaki shorts "Uchiha Sasuke…." He said softly.

Gaara looked up to see his friend "bout time you got here" he said lowly "I was about to have all the fun without you." Sasuke smirked "You take this hunch backed freak, I'll handle the stupid one who decided to threaten you instead of killing you when he had the chance." Gaara smirked "witty as always, eh, Sasuke?" The spiked haired sound nin got up wearily "alright jackass, lets go" he said moved his arms in front of him in fighting stance. Sasuke didn't even get into fighting stance. "I'll show you….why the Uchiha were the most feared clan in Konoha…"Sasuke said evenly as his onix eyes changed into blood red iris' surrounded by three comma's. The spiked hair shinobi took a step back in slight fear _That…that's…the Sharingan…_he thought but then regained his composure and yelled "I'll show you! Air Cutter!" high intensity air was shot out of his palms towards Sasuke. Sasuke's face was shocked as millions of cuts appeared on him and then he exploded in a pool of blood. _Easy…_the black haired shinobi thought until a swift kick from below sent him up several feet into the air _WHAT?_

He thought as Sasuke appeared in front of him and then landed another high intensity kick on him sending him plummeting towards the ground. The sound nin found himself in a crater of rubble as he stood up to find where the Uchiha had gone only to here what sounded like a thousand birds chirping _Where is that coming from?_ He thought as he turned around to see the young Avenger running toward him with a ball of chiddering blue lightning. The black haired sound nin raised his arms "AIR CUTTER FULL POWER!" he yelled as his arms shot out high velocity wind cutting Sasuke all over but Sasuke let the Chidori fade so that he could use his chakra to move out of the way of the brunt of the Air Cutter. _Damn…that one almost got me…I need to be more careful…_he thought as he got an idea. The black haired shinobi pointed his hands at the Avenger once more "AIR CUTTER FULL POWER!" he yelled as he shot the high velocity air at him again. Sasuke let the attack hit him as the air cut him to pieces……or would have if he wasn't replaced by a log.

The black haired shinobi couldn't change direction fast enough to catch Sasuke from kicking him in the gut and then slamming his fist into his face. The black haired shinobi flew back a couple of feet landing on his back. Sasuke laughed as his hands made the seals 'tiger, dragon, crane, tiger' he put his hand to his mouth and spat out a ball of liquid fire "KATON GYUKYU NO JUTSU!" The sound nin perished in the fire ball, totally incinerated. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief and looked to his friend to see how he was fairing in his fight.

The sound nin turned to Gaara "It looks like you are indeed powerful as Orochimaru has forseen……but I will gain his favor by killing you." He said tactfully as he moved swiftly towards Gaara punching at him with his metal device on his left hand. Gaara grabbed his arm with the sand and threw him up into the air. "Sand shiruken" he said softly as the sand formed shiruken and shot themselves pelting the sound nin in the air. The sound nin grimaced as he felt the sand cut through his flesh. He back flipped and landed on his feet "my little metal toy here makes peculiar vibrations in the air when it hits near you, soon your ears will be bleeding and your brain will melt from the sound." He said confidently but Gaara lashed out at him with his sand cutting him more and more with his sand, as the sound nin was not fast enough to dodge it. The sound nin growled as he launched another punch only to have it blocked by Gaara's sand. Gaara shook his head "you're no entertainment……..I'm going to finish this" he said softly. The sound nin's one visible eye widened in shock "what do you mean?" he asked. Gaara merely shook his head as sand crept out of the holes of his metal arm attachment. The sound nin was even more shocked as the sand surrounded his metal contraption.

Gaara smirked "You seem quite attached to this toy of yours……..better make it so you cant ever lose it…" he said without any emotion what-so-ever. He clenched his fist as the sand crushed the metal with a grinding sound. He squeezed harder as metal and flesh joined from the intense pressure. The sound nin fell to his knees in pain "MY HAND!" he screamed. "Shh…you'll wake my guests" Gaara said evilly "It'll soon be over…" an insane grin spread over his face as he reached out to the sand that he had been planting under the sound shinobi's skin with every cut "you've got sand in your blood…." Gaara sand softly with a sinister undertone. "let me help you with that…." He said as he gathered the sand all to the sound nin's head and made it spike out of the sound nin killing him from the inside out, sending his blood all over the floor and onto Gaara's face right under his lip. Gaara's tongue slid out of his mouth and licked the blood from his lower lip.

Sasuke walked calmly up to Gaara "great….just our luck…our house needs repairs now…" Gaara shook his head "we're not through with this yet…I still sense someone…." Just then two giant snakes shot from the roof top, wrapping around Gaara and Sasuke's waists and pulled them up to the roof tops. The full moon cast an eerie light across the pale faced figure. Gaara got up from being slammed down on his own roof. "Who…are you?" he asked in his emotionless voice. The figured chuckled "ask your friends over there." He said pointing to Kara, Kismet, Hinata, Ino, Sakura and Naruto who had just appeared having heard the commotion. Sakura froze "that's….Orochimaru…one of the Legendary Sannin…." She said softly "The snake master…." Orochimaru laughed "So I see my reputation preceeds me." Sasuke got up chuckling to himself "snake master eh? How many 'snakes' have you 'mastered'?" Naruto snickered "nah, he doesn't look like he's a snake master, he looks more like a fairy to me." He laughed. Orochimaru frowned but Naruto continued "he's a fudge packing, 'snake' master, Fairy princess!" This made even Sakura chuckle. "Oh no all fear the pale faced fairy!" Naruto mocked as he danced around Orochimaru.

Orochimaru glared as his hands turned into snakes and stretched grabbing Naruto and flinging him into the roof again and again. Sasuke snickered "those are really big snakes you got there, compensating for something?" he asked laughing. Naruto between yowls for help and yowls of pain laughed. Orochimaru glared at both of them and released Naruto. "I've come for you, Uchiha Sasuke…."he said seriously. Naruto shook his head "I don't think Sasuke will fight you, I missed out on the last fight, you have to fight me now!" he yelled as he charged Orochimaru. Orochimaru caught Naruto's punch and his kick. He speared Naruto through the gut with a snake hand making Naruto double over as blood spilled out. "easy, now for Sasuke…." Orochimaru said softly as he walked towards Sasuke. Ino's eyes watered "NARUTO-KUN!" she yelled.

Naruto fell back feeling the cool air whistle through the hole in his stomach. _This isn't how its supposed to end…_he thought softly. His crystal blue eyes watered _I…I have to become Hokage…_the wind rustled his blonde hair and he sighed knowing this was the end for him. At least, it would have been if a voice hadn't surfaced in his mind _I will not let you lose now, I must survive…_The Kyuubi growled as it released its chakra into the blond shinobi, healing his hole completely and in record time. An orange/red glow eminated from Naruto and an energy tail grew from him as well. "IM NOT FINISHED WITH YOU TEME!" he said as he jumped at Orochimaru. Orochimaru turned around surprised to see Naruto's clawed fingers scrape along his face and stomach. Sasuke and Gaara looked on at Naruto surprised at never seeing this happen before. Orochimaru went flying backwards and Naruto appeared in a flash behind him kicking him will all his might. Orochimaru flew forwards silently admiring this boy's transformation and wondering what could have turned him into this….fighter. Naruto stopped his onslaught as Orochimaru landed head first into the ground. Everyone was silent, stunned by this sudden transformation and burst of power from their blonde haired shinobi, except for Orochimaru who was chuckling as he got up "So…you have the Kyuubi inside of you…" he faced Naruto smiling oddly "Akatsuki will be pleased that I've located you…….but….I'm here for Sasuke-kun…not you…" he let his tongue hang out of his mouth and wrap around Naruto brining him closer to him. He pulled up Naruto's shirt and saw that his seal had appeared on his stomach "see, even your seal is showing….you've been a good distraction but your time is up." He said as with one of his hands purple fire appeared on each of his fingers "FIVE ELEMENT SEAL" he said as he pressed the hand on Naruto's seal which sealed his seal. Naruto screamed and passed out as Orochimaru flung him aside. "Now, Sasuke-kun….you will come with me…"

Kismet caught the body of Naruto and placed it down on the ground to let him rest "still using the five element seal I see, Orochimaru…" she said barely above a whisper. Orochimaru looked over to her and opened his eyes all the way "as always…..my old apprentice." He said smoothly. Everyone looked at Kismet with surprise and she only glared at Orochimaru. "Oh so you haven't told them yet….I'm so sorry to ruin your perfect little friendships…" he laughed evilly. "Now Sasuke-kun, come to me." Sasuke growled and let his Cursed Seal take over, the black flames spreading across his skin and his onix eyes changing into the blood red Sharingan. Orochimaru was taken by surprise "So it appears my ex-apprentice over there has already bestowed the seal upon you….how unfortunate that I cannot slave you to me yet…" he murmured as Sasuke jumped at him. Not suspecting such a violent outburst, Orochimaru was hit firmly in the face, then again in the stomach, and finally Sasuke drove his knee into Orochimaru's face.

Orochimaru grabbed Sasuke by the neck and started choking him "If I cannot have your Sharingan, then I will make sure no one can!" he said starting to kill Sasuke. Suddenly in a flash of seals from Gaara's hands a wall of sand appeared out of no where gathering more and more sand and force behind him "Ryusa Bakuryu!" (A/N Desert Tidal Wave) The wall of sand came crashing down upon Orochimaru, sweeping him off his face and forcing him to let go of Sasuke. Gaara continued to make more and more sand pummel Orochimaru. Orochimaru finally stood up after his onslaught had finished. "and who are you?" Orochimaru asked bloodied and bruised from Gaara's attack. "I am the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure's (A/N Hidden Village of Sand) son, Sabaku no Gaara….and I am the last thing you will ever see on this earth." He said as he surrounded Orochimaru with his sand. Orochimaru let the sand encircle him "what are you doing? Giving me a hug?" he asked laughing until the sand constricted around him "Sabaku Kyu!" (A/N: Desert Coffin) _shit I don't have enough Chakra to use Sabaku Sosou!...I'll have to trap him and let someone else finish the job…_he thought as he made some hand seals "Sabakuro!" (A/N: Desert Prison) Orochimaru's eyes widened as he found he couldn't break out of the solid sand prison around him _I can't believe I let him do this to me….but who expected such a unique fighting style?_ He thought panicking.

Gaara looked to Sasuke "I'm out of Chakra, I've used too many techniques, you have to finish him off." He said taking a knee to rest. Sasuke smirked "alright, thanks for saving me……I'll take it from here." He said loving the feeling of being able to kill this pervert. "Chidori!" he yelled as the familiar mass of blue lighting gathered at his palm and he charged the helpless Orochimaru. "NO!" Orochimaru screamed as he felt the orb of Lightning cut through his stomach and the sand. Sasuke backflipped and withdrew his hand from Orochimaru's stomach. The sand dissolved around him and he looked down to see a gaping hole in his stomach "no….but it was so…..beautiful…"he said softly before collapsing. Before he hit the ground a flash of black appeared and caught him "you foolish snake, Orochimaru….you underestimated them…" the black haired man said as he took out a pill and popped it into Orochimaru's mouth. Orochimaru swallowed it and his wounds started to heal at an amazing rate, even his hole was filling in. "Th….Thank…you…Itachi…" was all that he said before passing out.

"It's been awhile little brother" Itachi said as he turned around revealing his ivory skin, his blood red Sharingan eyes activated, and his muscular features even showed through the over coat he was wearing. Sasuke gulped "I…Itachi…" he growled but staggered as he tried to gather more Chakra but he was empty. "I've come for the Kyuubi and the Shukakku" he said deathly serious. Gaara growled "I am not leaving with you, and neither is Naruto." He said softly. Itachi betrayed no emotion just as Gaara did. The similarity in their stares was amazing yet frightening. Sakura yelled "SASUKE-KUN! GAARA-SAMA!" as she threw them two pouches. They caught them in unison and opened them to find two pills in each, one red, one blue. Sakura said "take them! They are a food pill and a chakra pill!" Sasuke and Gaara nodded as they took both pills instantly feeling a little better as their bodies took in the nutrients and the chakra stimulating chemicals.

Gaara did a read on Itachi "Sakura, wake the Kyuubi….we are going to need all three of us if we are going to even survive…." She nodded and gave Naruto a food pill and a chakra pill then was about to wake him but Kismet stopped her "wait….I have to undo that seal that Orochimaru put on him, it makes him not able to use the chakra of the fox inside of him." Sakura nodded as Kismet lifted up his shirt _you wouldn't guess it but he is muscular after all…_she thought smirking as she held out her hand and red Chakra eminated from her fingers as she placed them over the marks Orochimaru placed on Naruto "FIVE ELEMENT UNSEAL!" she said as she pressed down unsealing the demon fox chakra again. Naruto woke with a start and saw Itachi "what? Him?" he looked down to see Orochimaru unconscious "how?" Kismet and Sakura helped him stand "questions later, fight now!" they said at the same time as they pushed him over to Gaara and Sasuke. "Good to see you back, Naruto" Gaara said still in his unemotional voice. Sasuke looked at Itachi with such intensity that you could feel the hate in the air. Gaara decided to say something about it "Sasuke, I know you have a score to settle, but you're not strong enough alone, so we work together……or we fail…."he said emotionless as always. "Hn" was all Sasuke said in response.

The girls watched on amazed at how much the boys had advanced just by training against each other. They were impressive on their own but they couldn't wait to see what they were capable of as a team. Hinata worried poking her fingers against each other _Please…Gaara-kun…win. ._she thought softly. Sakura prayed for Sasuke and Ino prayed for Naruto. Kismet sat and watched, wishing she were able to get in on the action but knowing she would just get in the way. It was tough on all of them, the loves of their lives were fighting for their lives and there was nothing they could do about it. All of them agreed on two things….this was the worst feeling ever……being helpless…….and two…..this was going to be one of the more memorable fights of the century.

----end----

A/N: Just to clarify, Orochimaru is not dead. How was that for a chapter! THAT WAS THE MOST ACTION PACKED CHAPTER SINCE THE CAT FIGHT! W00t! ACTION! Reviews help me write faster, so the more reviews I get, the faster you all get to read the fight with Itachi chapter.  REVIEW!


	18. Chapter 17: The Master Of The Sharingan

Chapter 17: The Master of The Sharingan

A/N: Alright! Reviews! Well here is the chapter you've been waiting for……Itachi! Sorry for the late update, School sucks!

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

There comes a time when a man must face what he has done in life, looking back on his past actions, projecting into the future and trying to see his future. Sometimes the stars help a man in reflecting upon himself. We do not know why man has always been so fascinated by these burning orbs in the void of space. Maybe it's something to do with it reminds us that there are other things happening besides on our own little sphere called Earth. Said stars were twinkling high in the sky next to a full blood red moon, Sabaku no Gaara looked back upon his life seeing his past as one big blur of pain. He projected into the future trying to find out what price he was going to pay……….and he decided he was getting a bargain. _My whole life has been used serving myself and hurting others……_he looked over to Hinata who was teary eyed _perhaps…._he looked over to Kismet who was at a loss of things to do dealing with the worst feeling ever, helplessness. _Perhaps…I was wrong……maybe…there are some who are worth protecting……maybe……my life ending won't be such a bad thing…if it frees them from their burden of this…this…_he looked up to Itachi who stared back emotionlessly _this monster._ He summoned his sand to him on the floor _one last battle_

The crimson eyed Avenger stood still feeling his chakra rebuild at a galloping pace, his wounds healing as well. _Itachi……brother…you took away my childhood……you took away my parents…my family……and in a sense……my life….and a life…for a life…_He moved a black lock of hair out of his crimson eyes _I will destroy you……_His feet slid on the ground as he calmly got into fighting stance _you took everything from me once, I will not let you do so again……you will never hurt me…or anyone else close to me……ever again…I would rather die…_

The blond haired, orange clothed, shinobi stared at the figure in his black over coat. _So this is Uchiha Itachi…notorious S-class criminal…I will kill you for this village…I will remove you before you can hurt anyone who is special to me._ He unzipped his jacket revealing him muscled chest with a black undershirt. The slight breeze ruffled his blond hair as he flashed one of his smiles at Ino "Ino-chan will you hold this for me? I don't want to get it dirty." He laughed as he tossed it at her. He saw her catch it glumly and hold it to her face nuzzling it "Don't worry Ino! We'll beat this teme! Don't you worry!" (A/N: Teme bastard) he said as he put his hands behind his head. _I have to protect everyone If I am ever going to become Hokage……This is just practice…_he smiled sure of himself. His eyes became feline like and orange Chakra flowed out of him in waves. "I'm definitely not going to lose!" he said triumphantly.

Sasuke growled feeling the tears burning his sharingan eyes "In a perfect world this could never happen! In a perfect world you'd still be here! It makes no sense! I can just pick up the pieces! BUT TO YOU THIS MEANS NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL!" He screamed with rage and anguish as a ball of chattering lightning appeared in his hand as he charged Itachi. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed letting the hurt seep out breaking his calm façade.

_Chidori?_ Itachi thought as he looked at his little brother charge him. "Hn" Itachi said as he grabbed Sasuke's wrist and slammed his knee into Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke buckled over and Itachi slammed his arm into Sasuke's face sending him flying back. "Foolish little brother, there isn't enough hatred in your blood to kill me." He said emotionlessly as he made shadow clones of himself. "Let's take it up a notch" Itachi said in his monotone.

Sasuke got up struggling as Naruto charged Itachi. "YOU BASTARD!" Naruto screamed as he swung a clawed hand at Itachi only to hit air and to be grabbed by the hair "you're all washed up, drop out." Itachi said blandly as his clones made the seals as they said "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu" (A/N: Water Dragon Blast Technique) The huge dragon of water rose from the lake and dashed itself against Naruto over and over again sending him ontop of Sasuke landing painfully. "No challenge…" Itachi said emotionlessly "The gap has not closed…"

Just then a sand shiruken pelted Itachi in the back of the head sending him forward "Hn?" he asked as he turned around seeing a particular green eyed sand shinobi standing there with his gourd on his back "Hey, you forgot about me." Gaara said staring Itachi right in the eyes. "A mistake I'm afraid you won't live to learn from." He said as he dashed a pile of sand at Itachi which hit him square in the chest making the clone dissipate. "I see you." Gaara said emotionless as a wall of sand rose between him and the punch that was meant for his head. The sand grabbed the wrist and crushed it making the clone dissipate. "Hn..Coward" Gaara said as he went through several shadow clones. "You're different….you have the aura of a killer…" Itachi said from the safety of his clones. "Hn." Gaara said as his hands made some seals and a huge wave of sand gathered behind him "Ryūsa Bakuryū" he said as the wave of sand engulfed all of Itachi's clones killing them instantly.

_This boy could be of use to me…it seems he has his strengths…_Itachi thought from a safe distance letting Gaara fight his clones. "Hn" Itachi said to himself as he jumped down landing a swift kick to Gaara's cheek….or he intended to if his kick hadn't been blocked by Gaara's sand. Itachi produced shiruken from his voluminous sleeves and hurled them all at Gaara with deadly accuracy, then disappearing landed a giant punch to Gaara's back sending him forward into the shiruken which would have shredded any normal human but Gaara's sand blocked them making them clatter to the ground harmlessly. Gaara slumped down on the floor "grr…" he said as he made to get up but was quickly pushed down by Sasuke "I'LL KILL YOU ITACHI!" Sasuke said as he managed to charge Itachi one last time.

_He still has the will…he could beat me…after the proper training…_Itachi thought as he hit Sasuke sending him back onto a pile of shrapnel….or that would have happened if a white haired man wearing camo pants, a white undershirt and army boots didn't catch him "sit for awhile Sasuke…" he said as he set him down and faced Itachi. "Time to get serious" the figure said as he pulled his forehead protector up revealing a Sharingan. A gasp was heard from the girls "KAKASHI SENSEI!" Sakura yelled "WATCH OUT!" Kakashi looked up just in time to block the kick from Itachi. "You've gotten faster" Kakashi said as he threw a punch only to have it blocked. _I'm going to need some help with this one…_Kakashi said as he jumped backwards "we need….to band together…we can fight him…as a team." Kakashi said to Gaara, Naruto and Sasuke. "RIGHT?" He asked only getting a variety of "hn's" from them.

"Pathetic….time to end this." The crimson eyed betrayer said as his voluminous sleeves produced his thin ivory hands "Kage bushin no jutsu!" he whispered as shadow clones appeared next to him on both sides stretching out. They jumped in the air ready to kill Sasuke, Gaara, Naruto and Kakashi if they had gotten more than two feet in the air that is. Itachi would have been victorious if a blue barrier of energy hadn't protected them and sent the clones spinning away.

"Hn?" all the boys said at the same time to reveal a white t-shirt, jean shorts, a black pony tail and ivory skin with veins budging from his eyes "you guys alright?" Neji asked as Kara took a deep breath from the side lines "NEJI-KUN!" she yelled relieved that he had arrived when he had. "Take a breather guys, me and sensei will take care of this guy." He said as Kakashi nodded and they sprinted at Itachi launching many flurries of attacks at Itachi, all being blocked or deflected. Kakashi and Neji gasped for breath after five minutes of close hand to hand combat with Itachi, who had broken only one bead of sweat. "We need re-enforcements….his chakra control is amazing." Neji said

Itachi made more clones of himself and sent all of them hurling at the group only to have a shield of sand envelop the group. Gaara said to the group "we need to work together…remember that…" he said deathly serious "get in positions" he ordered. A wave of shiruken hit the shield. The shield slowly dissolved revealing a Sabaku no Gaara in the center, arms crossed and his sea green eyes staring at Itachi defiantly, a red eyed Avenger with Cursed Seal activated posing at his left, an orange suited shinobi at his right on all fours teeth and claws bared, a black haired seer behind him on his left and a white haired copy ninja behind him on his left. "Time to stop playing….Itachi" Gaara said deathly serious and for the first time in a long time, Itachi felt something…..and that something was fear. "go" was all Kakashi said as all the ninja spread out. "If only I could seal up his chakra points…" Neji said and then suddenly a massive hand of sand appeared behind Itachi wrapping him up.

_'Hn? Sand?_ Itachi thought as he felt it constrict him so that he couldn't move. He turned his head to look at Gaara who was still staring him in the eyes, a feat that no one usually did without fear but this one…he looked like he was unafraid….not because of his foolish pride…but because of desperation….the feeling he had nothing to live for….it was a powerful motivation indeed. "Sabaku Rō" Gaara said (A/N: Desert Prison) "Oi! Hyuuga! Do it!" Gaara growled as he struggled to contain Itachi. "Right!" Neji said as he intensified his Byakugan and a green yin-yang appeared beneath his feet "Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō" (A/N: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms) His palms moved at a blinding speed putting all his energy into this strike closing all of Itachi's chakra points and inflicting massive damage. Itachi felt stabbing pain as if someone were inserting giant needles into all of his chakra points _no…without my chakra…I can't…_ His eyes opened and they were onyx colored _I can't use my techniques…even my Sharingan…_

"Sasuke! Now while he's weakened!" Kakashi said as he and Sasuke made the seals tiger, horse, dragon, crane, and tiger. "CHIDORI!" they said in unison and charged plunging their glowing balls of blue lightning into Itachi's sides sending a howl up from Itachi. Naruto screamed in rage as he leapt up with a blue orb of swirling chakra "RASENGAN!" he screamed plunging it into Itachi's chest. Itachi screamed knowing what pain felt like again. "Ryūsa Bakuryū" Another wave of crystalline sand rose behind Sabaku no Gaara and crashed down over Itachi burying him. "Sabaku Taiso!" (A/N: Desert Requiem) Immense pressure crushed down upon Itachi that would kill any normal person but instead just broke ever bone in Itachi's body. _Finally…my limit…my challenge…_Itachi thought as the pressure subsided and the sand rushed down revealing a broken and beaten Uchiha Itachi.

"Die brother…." Sasuke said as he made his last Chidori for the day and plunged it into Itachi's body severing the betrayer's soul from his body…..or it would have happened if a pair of snake hands hadn't smacked Sasuke into the wall. "I can't let you kill Itachi, Sasuke-kun…" a creepy voice said from a distance as his snake hands grabbed up the betrayer and Orochimaru shouldered Itachi. "Until later, Sasuke-kun….." He said as he disappeared fully healed from the pills Itachi gave him. Sasuke cursed and hit the ground "I HAD HIM!" Sasuke screamed. Gaara looked up into the blood red moon "We will see him again…..I know it….and we won't be so lucky next time…..trust me.." Gaara said softly.

Sakura and the rest of the girls went to their boyfriends and helped them up as they were very weakened from their battle with the S-class criminal. "Well done….but I'm afraid I must ask you to leave Konoha…" Kakashi said softly "Itachi will come back….and we do not want another battle like this…." He said as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sakura sighed as she helped Sasuke up. "We need to get somewhere we can heal you all before we leave…." She said softly realizing that she was now an exile from her home. Gaara said "the hotel….my father has a secret level there….where we can stay…." He said softly. His eyes portrayed no emotion but it was obvious by his bodily marks that he was in pain, and lots of it. Gaara closed his eyes and swirled the sand around them teleporting them to the hotel secret level. Once there he collapsed unconscious on the floor from the strain and the battle.

Hinata and Kara hefted Gaara onto a lavish bed with red silk sheets "we have to heal him…..Hinata-sama do you know how to heal?" she asked. Hinata nodded and produced ointment and started rubbing it tenderly onto Gaara's skin. She looked around the room through her grey eyes taking in the opulence of the room and the sector of the hotel. _This is amazing…almost like home…_she thought softly. Gaara twitched as his eyes opened for a second seeing Hinata softly tending to his wounds and bandaging his broken arm. "hn? Hi..Hinata?" he asked before falling back into his blissful unconsciousness. Hinata slowly unwrapped Gaara's sash from his muscled body. She turned red as she took off his shirt and realizing she would have to strip him to his boxers to heal him. She was amazed at the formed muscles of Gaara's chest and arms, furthermore she was amazed at how well his jeans concealed his leg muscles. She turned bright cherry red as she started to heal him trying to push past her shyness.

Sakura carried Sasuke to another room with black and green interior and sheets. She laid him down on the black satin sheets and started to disrobe him to heal all of his wounds. _He wouldn't mind...its nothing I haven't seen before anyways…_Sakura rationalized as she closed the door and began her healing. Kismet growled and retired to a room muttering that healing wasn't her 'thing'. Kara helped Neji lay down on the bed "Neji-kun….I'll heal you…just relax and sleep…" she whispered stroking his face and hands until he fell asleep. Then she took out the ointment and the bandages.

Kara whispered "Where will we go brother?" only to receive a telepathic message from Gaara. One word that she would never had believed he would ever say again…. Sunagakure. (A/N: Hidden Village of Sand)


	19. Chapter 18: Preparing For The Journey

(A/N: Sorry for making ya'll wait so long! School has been sucking enormously but I figured that I could push my way through it to update! We all need something to read while we are 'studying' for finals. Lol. Alright well without further adue, here it is chapter 18. P.S look for something special on x-mas, there might be a stocking stuffer limited chapter if you've been particularly naughty that is ;) )

Chapter 18: Preparing For The Journey

Gaara sleepily opened his eyes, it had been too long since he had been able to sleep that well, well sleep at all. He reached out his hand and found it wrapped around a feminine form. _What the hell is this? I don't remember sleeping with anyone…_he thought as his hands wandered up and down the curves of the woman's body. _Definitely not Kismet…_he thought as then the figure turned around to stare him in the face, well she was still asleep so more like snuggled closer to him. _Blue hair, silky ivory skin….it can't be…its….HINATA?_ he wondered in his mind. The girl wrapped her arms around Gaara's arm and held it close to her. _This is not good….I have to get up, I have to arrange for transport…_he thought as he tried to pull his arm away but the sleeping girl had a deathly strong grip on his arm. _God damn it woman! Give me back my arm!_ He thought as he tried and tried to wretch it from her but each time failed.

_I know…this calls for drastic measures…_he thought as he signaled with his mind for his gourd to come to him. The sand glided over to his sleeping form and slowly spun. It shimmered in the little light there was in the room. It spun counter clockwise constantly in a spinning shimmering shower of sand, the sight would have been awe-inspiring if Gaara had not taken the time to teach the sand how to do that. It unraveled all the way revealing at its heart…..instead of more sand like most would assume…it was a teddy bear. A ratty, sandy, bloody teddy bear. The last bit of a childhood marred by rejection, lonelyness and death….the last piece of his heart. It glided over to Gaara and he squeezed it against himself feeling the particular warmth and security it brought to him. _I'll be back for you old friend…_he said softly as he slowly wiggled his arm out of Hinata's grasp and when she instinctively reached out again, the sand swiftly replaced Gaara's arm with the teddy bear. Hinata's grasp tightened and she was seemingly content with the substitute. _Now….to prepare the vehicle._ He thought as he climbed out of bed.

His feet were cold, that was an understatement, but this didn't bother Gaara. His sand quickly wrapped around him giving him his clothes. Amazingly, his cuts and bruises had already healed from last night's battle. _How did this happen?_ He wondered but then his mind put the fact that Hinata was in his bed, and he was healed together. _So she healed me…she must have fallen asleep healing me…_he rubbed his head _There must have been no one else to do it, except Kismet but Kismet would have fucked me instead of healing me. I guess that makes sense._ He thought as he slowly exited the room closing the door gently behind him.

Out in the hallway, Gaara wandered down the aisles peeking in on the couples. He secretely was hoping to find out what made them….click so to speak. He opened the first door to find Sakura curled up into Sasuke's arms. "Sasuke-kun….." she murmured as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. Sasuke was blissfully asleep, he seemed at ease now with her….less tense…less…on edge. Gaara growled as a faint pang was felt deep in his chest. He closed the door and went onto the next door. He creeked it open to see a room full of orange and black sheets and drapes. There upon the silk sheets lay a not sleeping Naruto with a not sleeping Ino straddling his waist. "NARUTO-KUN!!" she yelled as they both let loose one last pant as she fell off him onto the bed. She curled up to an exhausted Naruto "Naruto-kun….I love you…" she murmured as she fell off to sleep. The pang intensified, making the hole where his heart used to be convulse. He closed the door and dropped to a knee holding his head. _Those words….what…what do they mean?_ He thought desperately as he held himself up with the wall and staggered down the hallway to the next dorm. He opened the door, cracks in his sand armor already appearing on his face. There upon a green and black bed lay Neji…and Kara. "Neji-kun….don't leave me…" she murmered in her sleep as she snuggled closer to him "Don't let Gaara scare you off…..don't let him kill you….." she murmured. Gaara's face cracked even more as his 'heart' spasmed more _Nanda? Even my sister doesn't trust me?Even she fears me?_ He closed the door, sand falling off his face as he crawled under the emotional weight of all he had just taken in, all that he didn't understand.

He got to the living room and saw Kismet draped over the sofa in nothing but a black lace thong and a red skimpy bra. She was sleeping at odd angles like a cat, no one to grasp onto, but at peace as if she didn't need anyone to hold her. Gaara moved on, sand collecting itself back on his face as the sight of her reminded him…..he didn't need love. He stood up slowly and walked over to Kismet's sleeping form "Wake up." He said in his monotone. The Kismet shook her head and didn't respond. "Woman, wake up!" he said in monotone once more. The Kismet hissed in response. "Fine." Gaara said as he took a step back and sand pelted her relentlessly "I'm up! I'm up!" she yelled startled by the stinging sensation. Her cherry red hair flopped over her face as she stood up and parted it back behind her head "What do you want?" she asked grumpily. "I need your help on the rover." He said. "How did you know I can work machines?" she looked at him suspiciously. He turned and headed for the garage portion of the hotel "I didn't." he said mysteriously as he walked off. Kismet growled and contemplated going back to sleep but decided she didn't feel like being pelted with sand again. She walked with Gaara to the garage not bothering to put on clothes other than what she had on.

The Rover, as it was called by Gaara, was actually more like an Armoured Personell Carrier. "It wont move." He said blandly as he went around the car tapping it in odd places. "I don't know much about it." He said softly. Kismet nodded "Yeah my village used a lot of these in wars, I remember how to fix 'em. Stand over here and help me." She said as she lifted the hood and saw the problem, there was old solidified oil everywhere and it was clogging the parts. "This….is a mess…to say the least." She said as she caught a rag Gaara's sand tossed at her. "Lets get to work…" she said as they started cleaning.

About two hours later, Gaara wiped his brow with his oil stained rag and shirt "That was not easy…." He said softly. Kismet nodded, her entire body had oil slicked on parts of it. "Not at all…but its servicable now…we should be able to use it." She said as she pelted Gaara with her rag. "Let go, we need a shower." She said as she walked out. Gaara nodded and threw the rags away. He followed her and to his dismay…..everyone was still sleeping. "Lazy bums…"Kismet mumbled. Gaara grumbled something about hiding all the coffee but then spoke up "I get shower first." He said as he pushed passed her and went into the guest bathroom as he didn't want to disturb Hinata's sleep. Kismet smirked "okay…." She said as Gaara walked away. "Didn't say anything about showering alone…." She smirked as she glided after him.

(a/n WARNING LEMON ALERT DEAD AHEAD)

Gaara opened the door and turned the shower on, the hot water already making steam as it hit the cold bathroom floor. This room was unique in that it was roman bath style, it had several streams of pure hot water flowing into a giant pool in the middle of the room. "Finally….I can enjoy myself…" he said as his sand dissipated his clothes and fell to the ground instantly leaving his toned body bare. Kismet opened the door and closed it silently, clicking the lock. Gaara closed his eyes and inhaled the steam, it clearing his sinuses and surrounding him, purifying his body. He smiled at his solace he had found away from everyone….except….one…a female body pushed against Gaara's and suddenly found lips upon his and a tounge begging for entry. Gaara's reflexes kicked in and he grabbed the woman's wrists and slammed her up against the wall pinning her there against his body, he opened his eyes and Kismet's eyes immediately found his. She had such a seductive look on her face "you said you got the shower first, but you never said alone." She whispered in his ear as her finger nails danced across his chest. Gaara nodded consumed by his lust as he savagely kissed her, his tounge forcing its way into her mouth and plundering it mercilessly. Kismet moaned loving being dominated. She wrapped her legs around him and slipped his length inside of her. Her eyes fluttered with pleasure as he began pumping in and out of her. "Harder.." she managed between breaths. He began going harder and harder intent on climaxing inside of her. She moaned more loudly and her finger nails etched scars into his back as she clawed at him in pleasure. Gaara arched his back and closed his eyes with a grimace, suddenly he felt the waves of release overlapping against his consciousness. Kismet pushed herself as much as she could onto him feeling him release inside of her bringing her to her climax. Gaara and her separated for the moment. They both slipped into the pool of warm water and started all over again. Their moans could be heard until about 3pm when everyone started to wake up.


	20. Chapter 19: Homeward Bound

A/N: Hey sorry for the deception about an xmas thing, I meant new years lol. Oh well, here it is. Your xmas present and your new years present! Btw my b-day was Dec.31 I'm 18 w00t!

Ch. 19: Homeward Bound

There was an errie silence in the troop transport as it traveled across the dusty dunes. All the passengers started at the red haired sand demon eyeing him as he slowly but deliberately re-carved with a kunai the symbol on his forehead that meant love. His face portrayed no emotion as he made the strokes without a mirror, as if he had it memorized.

Kara watched in horror, as the sharp shiny steel made a cut down his forehead. _Oh my god…what is he doing? I thought that it was just a tattoo…not carved in his human flesh…_ she reached out to take the knife from him but his sand shot out from nowhere, the silky strands of crystalline sand wrapped around her hand and shoved her back roughly. She fell back into Neji's arms and tried to stand but Neji held her in place whispering through her brown locks in her ear "Don't…I don't think he wants to be disturbed….". Neji sighed and held Kara tight as she buried her head in his arms.

Hinata gasped and bit down on her shirt sleeves which were held up in her face. _Why Gaara…why do you hurt so? Why wont you let us help you?_ He eyes looked up into his seeing nothing….only pain…hurt…death. She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut trying not to let the tears fall, but fell they did. She whimpered as she saw the crimson liquid leak out of the self inflicted wound. It made her squeamish and she hid her eyes again not wanting to see him like this.

Kismet watched the endless dunes of sand pass by and ignored Gaara's carving. _Hm…one thousand two hundred and fifty six….one thousand two hundred and fifty seven…_ she thought as she looked on the endless sea of sand ignoring all.

Ino and Naruto would have noticed if they hadn't been in the very back making out in a pile of blankets and pillows. Unfortunately for the rest of the car, they were very loud at it. A black haired onyx eyed boy looked over at the two blondes "Oi, baka Naruto keep it down." He said as he threw a rock at Naruto's head. It hit him square in the back of the head but it didn't phase him or Ino. Sakura blinked in surprise "Naruto's head must be denser than we thought……" she said out loud to Sasuke. Sasuke chuckled "By now I'm not entirely sure if a black hole is denser than that boy's head.". Sakura looked down at the floor where the rock was and then looked back up at Sasuke "Sasuke-kun…..where did you get the rock from?" she asked. Sasuke shrugged, "I reached in my pocket and it was there." He answered. "But Sasuke-kun…..why do you carry around" she trailed off because Sasuke gave her a stern look as if to say "Don't ask."

Gaara put down the bloody knife, seemingly satisfied with the kanji marking. His sand rippled from around him and surrounded the knife soaking up the blood and leaving the knife clean. Gaara growled and gave the knife to his sand which promptly threw it at Naruto, it landed squarely IN his head. This made him yelp unexpectedly and all eyes shot toward the knife sticking out of his head. The blonde boy's hands felt around until they felt the hilt of the knife in the back of his head. "I HAVE A KNIFE IN MY HEAD!!!" he screamed as he got up and started running around in circles. Sasuke laughed and so did Neji until they saw the looks from Sakura and Kara respectively. Gaara growled "Maybe next time you won't disturb people with your loud noises."

Ino frowned at Gaara, rather at the look in his eyes…..still nothing but emptiness. Kara tripped Naruto and climbed on the back of him. She closed her eyes and a light green mist of chakra seeped out and around Naruto's head. Naruto's eyes fluttered shut and he started sleeping. Sasuke gaped "And you haven't used this technique more often why?" he asked out loud. Kara rolled her eyes as chuckles spread across the room. She then removed the knife "it doesn't look like there is any brain damage…..he is lucky to have a thick skull." She said not intending it as a joke but everyone cracked up except Gaara who stared there at her. She reluctantly looked him in the eyes and saw the usual uncaringness but she concentrated, if there was a person who could read Gaara it was Kara, after all she was his sister. She looked deeper and saw something she couldn't believe….envy. _Is he envious of Naruto? What could Naruto have that Gaara actually wants?_ Her eyes wandered the room until they landed on Ino, half naked and concerned over Naruto. _Of course…he must want…could it be…he wants…someone to hold…someone to…………love him._

Suddenly the car stopped. Gaara's eyes turned toward the back of the car as the gate folded down to reveal a hot, windy, desert. He got up and walked roughly through the others stepping out into the heart of the heat. He closed his eyes and inhaled, the hot dry wind of the desert seemed to encircle him as a mother would a son. His shoulders relaxed a little and he exhaled. A calm soothing voice echoed across the desert sands "Danger comes…" it echoed through his own head only. He opened his eyes and saw nothing, but he could 'feel' sand being moved, someone was walking and didn't want him to notice. He could feel the sand interacting with his brain, the desert feeding him all the relevant information he wanted. The man was about 6 feet tall, was not heavy set, was moving fast and approaching even faster. Gaara willed the sand up, just in time to block a haze of shiruken from hitting him and the car.

(A/N: Yes, its action time.)

Sasuke gasped as he felt the rush of a shiruken through the air, then watched in amazement as the very sand Gaara stood on rose up to block all the shirukens. _No matter how many times I see that, it never loses its shock value._ Sasuke thought. His reflexes kicked in and he ran out to help Gaara. Kismet growled and jumped out as well. Gaara looked around slowly, feeling more than seeing. He felt the extremely fast ninja run past him, landing a punch on him sending Gaara flying. Gaara hit the sand softly and dragged himself up, whoever this was he was too fast for even Gaara's sand shield. Gaara growled and stood up, only to be knocked down once more. Sasuke focused his chakra into his eyes, the onyx colored orbs turned blood red and comma's appeared in them. He couldn't see the man's chakra or his shape. _This…this is impossible…its like we are being attacked by something without energy…_he thought trying to compose himself. "Gaara, this guy doesn't show up on my Sharingan!" he warned but then was smacked to the ground by the mysterious attacker. Gaara growled and finally caved the desert in on one spot forcing the attacker's speed to decrease. Then Gaara twisted his hand as a wave of crystalline sand rose up from the floor of the desert and engulfed the attacker. The 'man' squirmed and thrashed trying to free himself. Gaara's eyes narrowed "Sabaku Soso" he said as he clenched his fist, imploding the sand crushing his victim.

Sasuke sighed a sigh of relief and so did Kismet whom had just stood there observing. The sand crumbled away from its victim, leaving a normally dead man. Except….he was neither normal…..nor dead. The illusion dissipated leaving a hideous brown wooden collection of parts, which connected by chakra lines stood up eerily. Gaara's and Sasuke's eyes shot open wider _A puppet?_ They thought in surprise as the puppet then extended a long poisoned blade from his arm and took off slower than before, probably from the effect of being crushed, toward Gaara and Sasuke. Sasuke's hands moved in a flurry of signs and he said "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" (A/N: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) A Huge ball of fire erupted from his mouth and would have incinerated the puppet if it had not used its inhuman flexibility to change direction. Sasuke growled and ran at the puppet to distract it from Gaara. Gaara seized upon the opportunity as if it were a drunk school girl at a party and fully exploited it, he summoned the sand to wrap once more around the puppet and said "Sabaku Soso" he crushed the puppet once more. Sasuke then flipped in midair propelling himself upward a good distance. "Chidori!" he said as the trademark ball of chiddering blue lightning appeared in his hand as he started diving downward, spinning, hand extending downward. Gaara watched Sasuke dive downward like a streaking blue lightning bolt. His Chidori found it's mark shattering the puppet into thousands of pieces.

Just then, sand shifted revealing a hundred more puppets, which crawled out of the dunes of sand like zombies out of water. Gaara surveyed the situation calmly "Kismet…..your sword….use your fire swords." He said in an autocratic tone of voice. The red head nodded as she drew her double katana's from seemingly nowhere. The girls in the car all wondered the same thing _where does she store those things on her skin tight clothes???_ She concentrated and made the tiger symbol as blazing red chakra formed around the sword's blades, and suddenly they erupted into fire. "I don't know how much I can hold this up for, Gaara but I will do my best." She said as she leapt into the air and vanished using her super speed. "Sasuke, use your fire jutsus to set them on fire, I want none of these fuckers left unscathed." Gaara said sternly. Sasuke nodded and started resuming his barrage of fireballs. "Sakura….I need you to tend to Sasuke, keep his Chakra supply up." Sakura nodded and got out of the car and started drawing Chakra from herself to Sasuke. "Ino-san, I want you to awaken the fox inside of Naruto….his fire will help us the most…we need him to get out of this alive. Do you understand?" he said in her face. Ino nodded and started trying to awaken her lover. Gaara looked over to Neji and to Kara "Kara…I want you to use your shadow possession to stop as many puppets in their tracks as you can. Neji, use your Byakugan to try and find this puppet master and use your gentle fist taijutsu to disable him, that will end this entire battle. Hurry now!" he barked. Neji activated his Byakugan and disappeared, Kara nodded and hurried out of the car. Gaara sighed and turned around watching the battle, the others were doing exactly what he said and…….it was working…..for now.

---end---


	21. Chapter 20: The Best Laid Plans

Chapter 20: The Best Laid Plans

Naruto awakened slowly only to see Ino perched over him "uhnn…my head…" he said softly. Ino helped him up "Naruto we're under attack by millions of puppets, we need your

demon fox fire!" she said. Naruto nodded and saw his friends outside fighting for their lives, his anger flared at whomever would dare threaten his friends like this. He growled and let

out a roar as his red chakra engulfed his body, and a red tail of chakra grew from him. His mouth filled in with razor teeth and his nails extended into claws. Gaara nodded "kill them."

He said succinctly. Naruto nodded and he disappeared as rivers of fire erupted around the puppets reducing them to rubble. Gaara frowned as Sasuke passed out from chakra

drainage. Sakura passed out as well, she had given him all she had. Gaara cursed, his artillery was out. Kismet appeared, battered and bruised, her swords broken and collapsed

"I…I'm sorry….Gaara." she mumbled before hitting the ground. Gaara cursed again, his infantry was gone. _All that keeps my battle plan in line is that idiot fox boy…and I do not  
_

_like that…_he thought sullenly.

A giant yelp was heard and a certain idiot fox boy came plummeting at Gaara's feet broken and bruised. Gaara tapped the unconscious boy with his foot "Idiot…" he said as he l

ooked passively on at the army of brown wooden puppets. "Death comes for all eventually….but today…..I do not wish to die……I have purpose…..to kill everyone else." He said a

s he looked down at his right palm where the weird scar was. It flared in response to his determination and he closed his eyes, summoning all of his will power. He tugged down at the

very desert's bottom, straining from the use of chakra. The desert's mouth started to cave in, dragging all the puppets under, opening wider and wider to acommadate the mass of

puppets. The tangled mass of wood and eyes clacked as they were knocked against each other, their eyes rolling and their limbs contorting. Gaara sighed with relief as the desert sands

claimed them beneath its rolling waves of golden salt. "Sabaku…Taiso!" (A/N: Desert Requiem) A giant shockwave rippled through the entire desert as enormous pressure was forced

upon the mass of millions of puppets. A massive crunch was heard and Gaara's chakra supply emptied having not fully recuperated from his battle with Itachi.

The Desert Prince sat back exhausted on the sand. His breaths came in gasps as he had used way too much chakra in the past two days and it was starting to affect him. Suddenly he

saw something off in the distance, a wooden hand shot up from the ground. _No…_he thought as the arm pulled itself up and the body it was attached to poked its creepy head out of the

sand. The three eyes lolled and looked Gaara right in the face, its creepy mouth jawed open and shut and its other hand climbed out. Then suddenly more arms appeared, and more

and more. Gaara watched stoically _So…this is how I am to die…_All the puppet's blades slid out of their arms and they slowly dragged themselves toward Gaara.

Gaara watched, staring them down as they approached one by one. A puppet pulled itself up near Gaara and stabbed its blade right into Gaara's chest. Gaara's eyes widened in pain

but he said nothing. _I…I…feel…pain…this…_he looked down towards the blade now covered in crimson blood _this is my blood…_"FOR KAZEKAGE!!!" a female voice yelled. A

blur of fur and clothes crossed Gaara's sight as a fist connected with the puppets head splintering the entire thing into wood splinters. Gaara didn't look up, he was too preoccupied

with the blood spilling out of his chest. _This is what it feels like to be hurt? Not bad…compared to the feeling I feel everyday in my chest…_Puppets exploded in the backround

from the flash of fur slammed into them one by one too fast to be cut by their blades. Suddenly, all the puppets froze and stopped working, collapsing in place. "Hakke Hyaku

Nijūhachi Shō" (A/N: Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms) was heard yelled by Neji. Suddenly the flash of fur subsided and appeared in visibile form next to Gaara.

"Sabaku no Gaara?" she asked concerned as she reached at the sword in his stomach and pulled it out fast, blood gushed newly with force. She clenched her right hand in the tiger

symbol and extended her left over his wound. "Fox Healing Technique Level 3" she said as a burst of green energy entered Gaara from the odd girl. The girl got up slightly dizzy from

the effort of fighting and the huge chakra cost of healing Gaara. Gaara's wound closed up as if by magic and didn't even leave a scar.

Gaara looked up to see for the first time the pale skinned, very attractive girl who had rescued them. She had blondish brownish hair with fox ears and a fox tail which was majoritively

red but with an undercoat of black. She was wearing jeans and a simple t-shirt, she turned around unexpectedly and made eye contact with Gaara. Her hazel orbs seemed to hypnotize

Gaara as he could feel his sheets of emotional armour want to fall off, his green eyes fought back though; their cold and uncaring gaze prompted her to break off the eye contact. "Who

are you?" Gaara asked impatiently as he stood up slowly, his chakra regenerating. "What's in a name?" the girl countered "What does it matter who I am? Shouldn't it matter what I

am than anything?" she said with a smirk. Gaara tired of this exchange and asked Shukaku who responded with _she was…from your past…her name..is En'Ioko_ Gaara nodded

remembering the particular girl sans the tail and fox ears.

"En'Ioko….what are you doing here?" he asked softly. The girl stiffened at the mention at her name but relaxed and turned around "I was sent to escort you home to your palace

where Kazekage awaits you." She said softly. "There has been a rebellion by your brother Kankuro and the crown will need your help in dealing with his treachery." She said softly

almost sadly. Gaara shook his head "and I would help why?" he asked. She smirked "Cause you owe me one for saving your life here." Gaara growled "you could have let me die and

id be a happier man." He said softly as he turned around and gathered the sand back into a gourd on his back. "maybe you would be, but then your friends would be dead too." She

countered, slightly disturbed at his uncaringness about losing his life. "and? I should care why?" he said once more.

_What happened to him? Why is he like this? Was he always like this? I can't remember…… I don't think so cause then he wouldn't have saved me that time…_her thoughts

trailed off but then she resumed the present. "At least help if for nothing else….for your future kingdom." She said hesitantly. Gaara turned around "I couldn't care less about anyone or

anything, just get in the car and we'll talk about it later." He said cuttingly as he flung the bodies of his defeated friends into the back of the car with his sand. Neji came back and was

about to say something about the foxy girl who had joined them but saw the emotions on Gaara's face and decided to leave it alone.

Gaara got into the driver's seat and gunned the engine as En'Ioko got into the passenger seat. She looked at him and his stony gaze on the horizon, operating the vehicle on instinct

alone. His red hair got in the way of his vision _First thing I do when I get home is get a bath and a haircut…and sleep…if I can find my meditation chamber…_his thoughts

wandered. En'Ioko looked over at the blood thirsty prince and started doing what she always did…..analyze. Her hazel eyes swept over Gaara getting a feel for him. _Red _

_hair…reflects his blood lust…green eyes…deep green eyes…he'd hiding a lot from everyone…but his gaze is empty, he must know how to shield…or…he is truly empty…_

Gaara kept staring forward grumbling inwardly about the stupid autopilot going out on the troop transport. His perceptions were still expanded by his contact with the desert sand, he

could feel the vibrations in the sand made by everything moving, he felt the sun baring down on it, he felt every crevice of the desert….he felt as if he were the desert and in a sense he

was. His eyes dared to take a peak to the side of him to see the kitsune staring at him as if studying him. _Go ahead and look…you'll see the same thing everyone else does…_he

thought somewhat sullenly _a monster…_

"You don't talk much do you?" En'Ioko said with her sort of annoying high pitched cheerful voice. The Sand Prince merely growled in response, En'Ioko's fox ears perked up and

she growled back in a series of tones as if trying to communicate. Gaara was confused and tilted his head to the side peering into her hazel eyes with his sea green emotionless eyes as

if to say "What the fuck?" The kitsune giggled and drew her hands and legs up onto the seat. "You don't speak animal?" she laughed uttering another series of growls and purrs,

curiosity dancing in her eyes like flames. Gaara shook his head and turned his attention back to the road "No I don't, and I suspect that I would never want to." He said icily. The

kitsune laughed "but English is SO LIMITED!!" she pointed out "its so much easier to communicate in animal." She said with an enticing look on her face. "Well I don't know how to."

Gaara said paying her no more attention. En'Ioko smirked and said "Then I'll just have to give you a crash course…." She purred with delight and then said "repeat after me." She

growled. Gaara growled in response, En'Ioko purred and Gaara grimaced as he tried to purr. She giggled at his attempt and was surprised to see what she thought was the beginning

of a smile beginning to form on his mouth but then it was erased as if by magic. "That doesn't seem too hard." Gaara sighed bored. En'Ioko smirked "That's only the basics, there's

tone and depth and of course…" she trailed her nails along his arm "body language." She raised her eyebrows and perked her fox ears.

Gaara shook off her charms "I don't want to learn this anymore." He said as his sand rose up and threw her hand off his skin, slightly cutting her. The kitsune growled and licked her

wounded wrist, "maybe some other time then…" she murmured intent on pursuing this mysterious man. After an hour of silence the palace grounds came into view, ivory white walls

with gigantic spires topped with gold and jewels. The gates opened for the troop transport and the vehicle drove into the private gardens where a man robed in white with a red signet

on his hat that shaded him from the harsh sun's glare. Gaara got out of the transport and walked up to the front staring into the eyes of Kazekage, the royal guards were edgy at best.

The back opened up and the beaten bruised and tired Sakura, Sasuke, Neji, Kara, Ino, and Naruto climbed out. The kitsune knelt before the Kazekage "m'lord I have brought your

son back to you safely as you commanded." The old tired man reached out and scratched behind her fox ear making her tail wag "good work, En'Ioko…you may rest now…" she

nodded and got up. She walked off to the side entrance but not before stealing one last glance at Gaara _You're hiding something beneath that calm venire and I will find out what_

_ that is…_the kitsune thought as she walked into the palace.

The guards were disturbed by the blood shot green eyed monster in front of them, the teen age Gaara was even more terrifying than he was at birth…..if that was possible. He was

calmly staring the old man down, arms crossed over his chest defiantly. The dusty dry wind blew across the dunes, ruffling his blood red hair and irritating his eyes that still had those

trademark sleep deprivation circles around them. Most were frightened by the Kazekage's wrath…..but not this teenager. The Kazekage turned to the companions of Gaara who had

lined up to flank him on both sides "Welcome to Sunagakure." (A/N: Hidden Village Among The Sand) Sakura and the rest thought he was smiling cordially but could not tell because

of the white veil covering all of his face but his eyes which were harsh and critical "I've made provisions for you, go retire to your rooms for the evening and my servants will fetch you

when supper is ready, we are always pleased to welcome our allies from Konoha." He signaled to the guards "Show them to their rooms." Most of the guards took the weary travelers

to their rooms, still leaving an honor guard for Kazekage or Gaara…no one was quite sure whom they were supposed to be guarding from whom.

Before being led away Hinata stole a glance back at Gaara to see him still defiantly standing there, wind at his back making his baggy clothes flutter in the wind and making him seem

even more imposing than he really was _Good luck Gaara-kun…_she thought timidly as she walked off with the guard.

The Kazekage looked over to his remaining guards, who were quite loyal to him, and realized that even after all this time they were still afraid of Gaara. _Good…then Gaara has yet to_

_ be forgotten…_he thought as his harsh eyes crossed over to his son looking him over, suddenly several shiruken appeared out of nowhere heading straight for Gaara, the sand rose to

block it but instead of just blocking it, it formed a sand clone of Gaara which promptly threw it back to Kazekage. The sand king looked surprised and managed to catch the shiruken

in between his fingers "So…you have gotten faster…and stronger…" he said quietly to himself. He snapped his fingers "guards…leave us." He said softly. The men bowed and left

immediately glad to be free of the sight of Gaara.

And then there were two solitary figures about twenty feet away from each other, staring each other down. Cold green soulless eyes meeting brown critical analyzing eyes, Gaara's

sand clone dissipated into sand and blew away in the desert breeze which ruffled both Gaara's black t-shirt and black jeans and the Kazekage's pure white royal robes. The red

setting sun was directly over Gaara's head casting him in an eerie red light, bringing out the color of his blood red hair, shadowing the rest of his white skin making his green eyes glow

an otherworldly color. The sand danced around the two masters of the desert, _he truly is the master of Sand…as it was ordained…_Kazekage thought as he could feel through the

sand that Gaara had grown in strength but not in emotional strength _but he is still unready…_

The blood thirsty sand demon looked at his 'father' with his cold soulless eyes analyzing him. _Same as always father…cold…analyzing…distant…_his eyes narrowed _and jealous…_

He straightened up and quickly shot a stream of hardened sand at his father, the old man smirked under his veil and with a dash of his hand broke the attack on his calloused hand.

"Not strong enough Gaara….you're still unfit to rule….you're lucky I'm so healthy…otherwise your shame would be known to all the villages as your home roasted in the fires of

conquest." He said in a biting tone. Gaara's eyes narrowed "So you say old man." He said spitefully, his eyes and body full of hate derived from his childhood memories of failed

assassination attempts by his father's minions. And so the two men sat there in the fading sunlight, content to speak more through eye contact than words, exchanging mental blows

rather than physical….it was a battle of wills…and a test of emotional endurance. Finally after three hours, Gaara simply turned and walked away into the palace tears stinging the sides

of his eyes slightly and the pent up emotions on the verge of breaking loose. He realized he couldn't stand it any longer and with a melodramatic swirl of sand, he disappeared in front

of the palace guards, appearing almost instantaneously in his room from the chakra controlled sand.

The old white robed king stood in the same place he had been since Gaara arrived smirking "You may be the prince of sand Gaara….but I still rule here….whether you like it or not."

He said softly as he walked off into the sunset towards his royal quarters. Thinking to himself _He will need someone……he does need someone…otherwise…he will never be fit to _

_rule…one cannot rule a country if they cannot rule their own emotions…but where to find one such girl…_His thoughts flashed back to the glances he had seen Hinata and

En'Ioko give him …_where indeed…_

--end---


	22. Chapter 21: The Calm In The Sand Storm

A/N: Bow down to the mighty En'Ioko for she has restored inspiration to my parched brain! LOL anyways, Here's another update. Please review! Otherwise this newfound inspiration may dry up!

**Ch. 21: The Calm Inside The Sand Storm**

_Endless black…_ The night sky over The Hidden Village of Sand was as bleak as the desert sand, not a glitter of anything, just solid grey. The lone figure stood on the roof of his palace glaring up into the night sky, unsure of where the sky ended and where the sand began. He sighed as smoke curled slowly from the cigar in his hand, his blood shot sea green eyes wandered the landscape searching….always searching. He slowly opened his mouth, allowing his pain to come out softly as whispered lyrics

"Crawling in my skin  
Without a sense of confidence

Consuming, confusing  
Crawling in my skin  
Without a sense of confidence  
I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take  
There's something inside me  
That pulls beneath the surface"

Though he muttered these softly, he couldn't mutter them softly enough for them to not be noticed by a certain female kitsune. The dark feminine figure slowly crept in the shadows closer to Gaara, attracted as if by some magnetic force, irresistibly drawn toward him. Gaara closed his mouth around the cigar and took a drag on it, liking the flavor that filled his mouth. He molded some chakra inside of himself and used it to control the smoke as he blew it out of his mouth. The smoke maintained cohesion and formed the shape of a miniature Gaara, a younger Gaara. The smoke then whipped around the child whom seemed to be kneeling and holding his head, it whipped more and more around the child finally stopping, lancing out of his back like claws as the kid Gaara stood slowly and eerily. Finally Gaara waved the figure into nothingness turning his attention back on the night sky. His black t-shirt and his black satin boxers were all that clad his muscular form as he sat down and put his head on his knees "I didn't ever think I'd find myself back here….." he said softly.

The kitsune's black and red fur tail twitched nervously as she observed the Sand Prince. _What is he doing just looking out into the sky? There aren't any stars out…_she thought as she watched, her fiery red chakra channeling into her eyes as she attempted to feel what he was feeling and was knocked almost off balance. (Her special eyes let her see through solid objects as well.) _Not at all what I expected…_she slowly crept on all fours toward the hunched over red haired boy. _So this is the Kazekage's dirty little secret…_she thought as she watched Gaara take another drag on his cigar and take another shot of vodka from the bottle. He trembled a little, only slightly as his hand raised up and wiped the beginning of a tear away from his eyes. _The secret of the Kazekage is…_Gaara looked up from his lap, eyes brimming still with fresh pain from the emotional battle with Kazekage. The realization hit the kitsune like a bag of bricks _Gaara is no monster…but the son of one._

Gaara lifted the bottle once more to take a swig of the burning Vodka that Suna was now famous for making, he was trying to bury the pain like usual, but when he got halfway to his mouth the bottle disappeared in a flash of black and red. Gaara looked to the right to see the kitsune taking a swig from the bottle "Oh…did I steal your drink?" she smirked, trying to hold back the feelings that she had for Gaara. Gaara's eyes narrowed and the tears cleared up as his infamous anger sparked at the memory flashing through his head.

_It was a starry night and a small red haired boy sat on the ledge of the roof watching the stars. "Why…why am I the only one being such a monster?" he asked himself on the brink of tears. "Why do they all run?" he asked himself. His small white hands clenched and he tried to make himself bleed to feel…feel something…other than emptiness. And then it happened……kunai sailing through the air…a flash of sand rose up to block the projectiles. The red haired boy turned, a fiery passion ignited in his green eyes. His eyes met a wrapped up sand ninja who had several kunai floating in the air controlled by chakra, the kunai flew at the boy once more. The boy's eyes darkened and a blanket of sand enveloped him, shielding him from the kunai. His hand shot forward as the sand traveled along the roof engulfing the ninja. The boy's eyes filled with hate as he lifted his hand, the coffin of sand raised slowly in the air, waves of chakra emanated from the boy's hand traveling through the sand "Sabaku…Soso!" he said with malice and hate as he clenched his fist. The sand imploded, normally killing any ninja, but for some reason…this one was alive. Gaara's eyes return to their normal frightened state as he slowly walked toward the fallen shinobi. His small child hand reached out toward the masked man's mask and slowly removed it…to find…Yashamaru. "Uncle?!?" he says softly but frightened as Gaara clutches his own head in pain. Yashamaru looked up slowly through dazed eyes, life draining from them by the second. "Gaara…I'm sorry…but your father…Kazekage…ordered your death. I couldn't…refuse. I loved your mother…and you…you took her away from me…you killed her…in childbirth…" he coughed up blood and continued "I'm sorry Gaara…but I could never have loved you…you are a monster…your father knows it…your mother cursed you when you were born…you were never loved…live only for yourself and fight only for yourself…now please…as a final favor to me……die now…" he said softly as he used the last bit of life in him to ignite the folded explosive tags taped to his chest. The resulting explosion incinerated half of the roof making a giant crater where his uncle's body had been. When the smoke cleared, the child Gaara's eyes were streaming with tears and regretfully he was safe within a dome of protective sand. His eyes opened, passion, rage, and pain could be seen almost palpably leaving through his eyes as the tears streamed down endlessly. Sand whipped psychotically around Gaara as his inner anger and rage direct the sand to destroy everything. This six year old could feel his heart breaking into millions of tiny pieces, his emotions pouring out of him like a rushing torrent of water. After an hour, the tidal surge died…and there stood Gaara, his face no longer shrouded by tears. The sand frozen around him and he looked up as his uncle's dying words echoed in his mind "Live only for yourself and Fight only for yourself." Gaara's heart hardened to a steel trap and he took the kunai that his uncle had raised against him……and proceeded to carve the Kanji symbol for Love into his forehead. "I will live only for myself and love only myself……I will prove my existance by killing all who challenge it…" he said to himself as he looked up at the full moon._

"So…now my father sends a new assassin to kill me…" Gaara said snapping back to the present time. His sand rose menacingly in the air "He will find out I am not so easy to dispatch." He smiled evilly, almost deranged, at En'Ioko "Come…and let me know I exist!" he said as his sand whirled towards En'Ioko. The kitsune easily dodged his sand, which was still sluggish from his lack of chakra, and disappeared. Gaara calmly looked around the roof knowing that she was there, when suddenly a pair of hands wrapped around his waist from behind. He froze in place. "Gaara…your name means death…" the feminine voice whispered in his ear, the sand did nothing. "I wonder what the name refers to….that you are the death of the world?...or possibly something more plausible….that you have felt dead even from birth." She dug deeped into his pysche trying to get something to latch onto. "Why…why can you touch me?" Gaara managed to say in a shaky voice. En'Ioko's smooth voice said in his ear "Because I'm not afraid." Her light brown hair danced in the breeze into his face, tickling his neck. "Let me show you something…" she said softly as she took his hand in hers feeling the warmth that permeated Gaara. Still shocked, Gaara followed numbly being led by the hand.

The kitsune lead the confused Sand Demon down the stairs from the roof and into a closed off under construction part of the palace. She slowly desended the staircase with Gaara. The wood creaked under the weight of Gaara and his heavy sand gourd as they walked down the old wooden steps. "Kazekage was going to demolish this part of the mansion but I persuaded him to let me keep it as my room." She said softly leading him into a room full of old art pieces, some wet paintings and some newly begun. All of landscapes of Suna except for a few. Gaara looked about still numb, unsure of why this girl would grab his hand, unsure of why the sand didn't react to her and furthermore why he was here in this dusty old section of the palace. "Why are we here?" he asked blandly "This is all old, there is nothing new to be learned here." He said confused. "On the contrary…"En'Ioko said as she led him over to a bookcase "there is so much to be relearned, old training manuals, old sand jutsus long forgotten. And many many secrets…" she said hinting at something. "But all sorts of things, jewels lost to the sands of time…" she said as she pulled a particular book slightly out and a part of the book case rippled. It changed before Gaara's eyes into stone gateway of Shukaku's mouth. The mouth opened wide revealing a swirling portal of sand "Don't ever discount the old…." She smirked as she shoved him into the portal "it always holds new experiences." She said as she walked into the portal.

Gaara felt odd, sand was swirling around him yet…_This does not feel the same…this feels…free. Unsmothered…almost as if instead of covering me up, the sand were…_his eyes widened _stripping me down…_he thought as the sand swirled removing layer after layer of sand from his body, his sand shield was the first to go, then his armor of sand, and finally the sand that he kept on himself at all times to keep him insulated from the rest of the world, leaving him….for the first time since his birth….totally exposed. When the room stopped spinning, Gaara found himself strangely enough…in a forest. He was under a tree, in the shade, he could feel the cool breeze brush against his naked skin. He shivered a little bit before allowing himself to enjoy the calm cooling sensation. He closed his eyes and listened, there was a calm to this forest….not a deathly calm like the desert…but a soothing calm. He could smell and hear the trickle of water, which left him immediately parched of thirst. He struggled to his feet and found it was easy to lift himself without the gourd of sand. He found he could walk faster, he started to. He soon found himself running feeling the breeze in his blood red hair, he also found himself doing something he had never done before….enjoying himself. He finally arrived at the waterfall and lake, it was full of crystal clear, ice cold water. He immediately dunked his head in and started to inhale the cold treat.

He would have kept drinking but a blur of black and red fur grabbed his head and pulled it up from the water. "Don't drink so much of that….you wouldn't like to throw up here." En'Ioko said. Gaara looked up with his impassive face at her, and if he had any emotions he would have noticed how beautiful she looked when the sun danced across her face through the tree canopy. "Where is this place?" Gaara asked putting back on his impassive expression. "It can't be Suna…" he muttered as if that was obvious. The kitsune nodded "well it is…and yet…it isn't." She said thoughtfully looking into Gaara's sea green eyes as if trying to break down the doors. Gaara's steel trap heart stood fast against her mental barrages not even budging "Stop talking in riddles." He said getting mildly frustrated at this girl. A playful grin played across the kitsune's face as she jumped and tumbled all around Gaara, until she popped up right in front of his face. "No!" she said grinning as she kissed his nose lightly and giggled rolling backwards displaying her dexterity.

Gaara didn't even flinch at the kiss and walked forward trying to use his sand to grab her only to find…..there was no sand. He stretched out his hand and no rush of crystalline grains rained down from his grasp, he now understood why he felt so good….he had slept here…there was no chilling voice in his mind, he could THINK for once. The realization made him forget everything else as he sat down in the shade of the tree stunned. En'Ioko smiled as she noticed he finally realized what had happened. She rolled over to him giggling, but instead of hitting him, she scampered up the tree and hung down from her feet using her chakra to make her feet stick to the tree. "Why so silent Gaara?" she asked as she turned around finding herself in her usual flirty mood. "What's Gaara's big secret?" she asked aloud and suddenly dropped down doing a flip and landing in a squat right in front of Gaara, at eye level with him. "Why?" she asked in a seductive tone.

Gaara looked into her eyes and was almost swallowed up in them, he felt good without his sand and Shukaku but…he felt vulnerable without his sand defenses. He shook off her charms and stood up "Where are we? I want to know." He said softly but directly. En'Ioko replied "We're in the Valley of The Kazekage's, their personal retreat as far as I can tell, I found it by accident." She shrugged laughing. "but now it's my home, my forest." She said seriously. Gaara looked at his arms and hands once more "and I don't have….the sand." He said softly. The kitsune nodded "the portal was designed to not let Shukaku in, to be a place for the host to relax……a place built thousands of years ago…..just for you." She said softly gazing at him, analyzing him. _He's such a treasure trove of pain…and secrets…and power…its hard to keep my mission in mind…one might actually find such aloofness………attractive._ She thought as she observed him. Gaara nodded taking in the fullness of what she had just said "You mean….I…I…am free here?" he asked puzzled. "Yes Gaara…this is your sanctuary…" she smiled a little as she walked up to him "but its mine too…if you want…I can show you its trees…its waterfalls…..its shade….and maybe…if you're lucky…" she trailed off as she turned around and walked away switching her hips as she looked over her shoulder "the caves." She smirked and sat down, immediately scampering up into a tree.

Gaara shook his head "no…I have to get back." He said still in his impersonal tone. En'Ioko nodded and walked up to him "but before you go….you have to know something…." She whispered in his ear. "What?" he asked tersely. "That everyone needs someone to care for them….no one can live alone." She said looking him in the eyes. At first Gaara's eyes softened but then she said that no one could live alone, they hardened to even harsher than before "there's one problem in your little theory there…" Gaara said darkly as he shoved her back roughly. His right hand made the tiger symbol and he began to disintegrate into sand limb by limb "I do." He said before fading completely.

Gaara reappeared on the otherside of the gate, staring at the maw of Shukaku. His eyes hardened and his fists clenched, his eyes tightened and he shoved the pain deeper inside of him "I live alone, always have been and always will be….." he said to En'Ioko's face and turned his back on her. "I live alone….no matter what you think you know about me….I have been……and always will be…." He trailed off as he climbed the stairs to the regular section of the mansion. As he got to the top he roared with the rage of Shukaku and yelled down the stairs "A MONSTER!!" he calmly walked off to his own room. Before he could get there, a flash of black and red appeared right in front of his face and kissed his deeply, instinctually he responded. After several minutes, the kitsune withdrew her lips from his "you may be a monster Gaara…but your far more human than most humans are." She said softly and she wrapped her arms around him, Gaara didn't know why but he wrapped his arms around her as well holding her tight. Her words rang in his head. And for once in his life Gaara doubted himself _Maybe…she is right…_

---end---


	23. Chapter 22: Cat Fight Round II?

A/N: Hey all loyal fans! I got a laptop! W00t! now I can update on a reliable schedule! Rejoice brothers and sisters:P anyways, I have yet to figure out a schedule under which I can regularly update but I will figure one out soon! Please review if you read, it really helps to have some feedback on my work and to see how people think the story will turn out. Oh and for all you GaaraXHinata fans, I'm sorry there's been so little progress on them, its just that my Hinata muse has sort of told me that she wouldn't do anything in these situations because of her demeanor, and for story's sake I don't want to take her too OOC. So have faith that maybe Hinata might pull it off or perhaps she's already lost….we'll find out in this chapter. Oh and in your reviews tell me who you want to win, the winner of the fight gets a lemon with Gaara in the next chapter. So read on!

Chapter 22: Cat Fight Round II?

A red haired huntress hungrily hounded her prey, she stalked around corners, slinked in the shadows, and moved as silently as if she were the darkness. Kismet was looking for her

Gaara. _Where is that guy?_ She ground her legs together slightly in her tight black mini-skirt _I want him….and I want him now…_she thought with a certain sense of ownership. She

blended into the shadows as she heard footsteps approaching her, idle chatter from two guards. "So have you heard? Gaara's back." One said. "Yeah I know, and the worst part is

that he's gotten stronger….I didn't think that possible." They grumbled in agreement as they waited just around the corner from Kismet. Kismet smirked and soundlessly ran up the

wall sinking her nails into the sandstone ceiling. "He brought some people with him……if I didn't know any better I'd say they were his friends!" then after two seconds of pausing in

mock thought "NAH! No one could like Gaara!" they laughed again, with slightly red cheeks from drinking. Once they got ahold of themselves, two said "I mean and there's this

really hot red head with him and by the look on her face when they came in I'd say that she's his girlfriend!" Kismet listened from above smirking with pride at still having guys talk

about her. Then even louder laughter sounded from the two gaurds "AS IF ANYONE COULD EVER LOVE GAARA!! THE FREAK OF SUNA!!!" they laughed uproariously.

Kismet's eyes narrowed into slits as she dropped down from the ceiling infront of them "Those words will be your last…." She said darkly as her hands moved in a flurry of hand

signs, a flash of blue was seen from around the corner and short screams were heard as blood painted the walls of the hall. There with her hands in both of their chests, a faint blue

light dimming in her hands "Chidori…" she muttered as the guards slumped down dead, their eyes rolling into the back of their heads like some sort of sick toy. Kismet took her

unblemished hands out of their chests and stalked off _No one insults Gaara….not on my watch…_she thought as she went to go find him.

The red head switched her hips as she walked down the hall way intent on satisfying her lust with the only lover whom she had that could dominate her so forcefully, make her feel

so enraptured in the heat of passion, the only one that could make her fear….Sabaku No Gaara. She could feel him nearby, she could feel the void that he was in the lifeforce, the

utter emptiness….the beautiful tortured human he was on the inside. She smiled as she rounded the corner but was totally unprepared for the sight she encountered. The new girl,

En'Ioko had HER Gaara in an embrace, and had HER Gaara's lips in a kiss. It only took a moment for Kismet to recover and to put a foot into the usurper's face, sending her flying

into the wall, which buckled under the force of the impact. The Kismet smirked _What a light weight…that ought to have brought home the message…._she said as she stood in

front of Gaara and wrapped her leg around his as she pressed herself into him _Gaara…is mine._ She thought possessively.

A white eyed, dark haired, Hyuuga walked slowly an unassumingly through the halls of the royal home, searching. Searching for what, she didn't know….just something in her

reached out to someone here…..she wanted someone…no…needed someone. Not just physically but…mentally and emotionally. She wanted the tanned hide of a certain sand

Prince. She sighed as she found herself fantasizing about having him press her against his toned chest, the warmth that she knew his arms would hold. She could only imagine the idea

of kissing him, the innocent soft way she used to dream of kissing Naruto. She found that in his arms, she felt free from the constant plague of uncertainty that made her seem so weak

always. She felt so sure of herself, so loved, so…special. She found her heart leading her closed eyed form through the mansion, to the echo that she knew was Gaara. Only to see

that her Gaara was currently occupied by a certain red haired girl and the behind them embedded in the wall was the kitsune, En'Ioko. Hinata's eyes turned back to Kismet's form

pulling Gaara closer to herself _That low life slut…_Hinata thought as her Byakugan activated and she sent a concentrated beam of blue chakra spiraling just a hair's breath from

Kismet's heart chakra.

Kismet's danger sense went wild as she pulled Gaara closer, then jumped out of his arms just in time to see the blue streak of chakra streak across her body, barely missing her.

She turned to see Hinata at the end of the hall "You bitch, what do you want?" she snarled. Hinata didn't respond, she only charged at Kismet suddenly filled with anger….and

passion…enough to fight for the dreams she had for her and Gaara to have a chance. Kismet got into fighting stance as she watched Hinata's approach. _Looks like miss little _

_innocent virgin finally got some fire in her belly…_she smirked _it wont be enough though….not nearly enough…to beat me._ She was ready…ready to finally fight Hinata again,

to get her back for the humiliation from the first fight. Her senses were sharpened by her anger, she caught every subtle movement of Hinata's approach….but she didn't see….the

certain angry Kitsune getting up from the pile of rubble she had been laying in…..

In the dark of unconsciousness, a red light illuminated the Kitsune's inner self. She stood up slowly "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" she screamed at her body as she could hear

Kismet's and Hinata's exchange. Her body wouldn't budge, and her spirit felt cold….alone….fearful. Sand encircled her inner self as a pair of red eyes opened in front of her.

"What…are…you?" she asked fearfully, stiff from fear. "I…." the eyes replied in a dark and echoing voice "I…am a monument to your sins…." It replied darkly as the sand

constricted around her. She found it hard to breath, either from the fear that could be choking her or from the sand constricting around her. "What….What do you want?" she asked,

her throat becoming parched and dry. "You….have taken….an interest in…my host…..you will make him feel….and this cannot be allowed." It said darkly as its sand constricted

further around her. She sobbed as she could feel herself dying, she tried to fight it but couldn't. She didn't have enough air…or power…to break the sand's hold on her. Then she felt

Gaara's reassurance that he liked her and she felt rage bubble up inside of her "How dare you….you demon…think…that you…can control…his destiney…." Her inner self started

to glow red with new chakra "HE IS A PERSON!!" she screamed internally as her inner self was overshadowed by an outline of a demon fox's fanged face. The sand broke under

the new strength that she possessed. Red chakra leaked from her, it poured outward out weighing the sand and she looked right into the blood red eyes "LISTEN TO ME!" she

growled with feral strength "GAARA IS A PERSON! AND HE WILL BE TREATED WITH RESPECT!!" she shouted into the eyes, as her teeth elongated into fangs and her

entire body started to blossom with black and red fur. As the power swirled around her, her inner self grew to the size of the eyes to where she growled at them with full certainty.

"NOW YOU CAN GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BODY!" she roared at the eyes. The eyes shut quickly leaving her inner realm, as consciousness burst into full view. The

kitsune rose slowly out of the rubble to see an undefended Kismet facing a charging Hinata. She growled as her teeth elongated into fangs physically and she jumped onto Kismet's

back sinking her teeth into her neck.

Gaara's eyes couldn't take all that was happening in at once, he was confused at why all the sudden there was confusion and chaos all around him. He closed his eyes frustratedly

as a steady growl arose from his throat. He opened them as it blossomed into a full out roar, sand whipped menacingly around, hitting Kismet and En'Ioko with wave after wave

sending them sprawling though not enough to actually cause any damage. "SILENCE!" he roared as his sand lashed out putting Kismet into shackles and manacles of sand. His sand

surrounded En'Ioko putting her in a cage, and his sand surged tying Hinata's hands and feet together, sending her to the ground. "Now…." He growled as he looked over the three

girls. "If you're going to fight……it's going to have rules." He said softly. The three girls nodded in unison glaring at each other.

Unbeknownst to them, a dark shadowed figure watched from the corner of the hall, it clacked as it vanished in a poof of chakra. It appeared in the desert, running at full speed

across the sands. It happened upon a dark cave out cropping, it was darkly majestic in its simplicity. Towers of sandstone like claws reached out for the sky almost ensnaring the full

moon overhead. The puppet clacked its way up to the magnificent natural structure and climbing in through the mouth, and down the stone stairs. The echoing of its inhuman footsteps

filled the structure until it stopped, bowing before a shadowed man on a black ivory throne. "What have you brought me?" the man asked as the puppet's eyes clicked on their feed

back capability showing a full face of Hinata Hyuuga. "So…the Hyuuga heiress is in Suna….strange….and unexpected….but this can work to our advantage." He mulled over the

situation "We hold her hostage and threaten to kill her if Konoha tried to interfere with our takeover of Suna. Alone, Father cannot hold out against my puppet armies and we shall be

victorious." He smiled crookedly. Finally the moon light illuminated his face, showing Kankuro, Sabaku no Gaara's older exiled brother. His laughter filled the evil structure magnifying

his laughs as they spread up and out of the mouth of the caverns as if the very rock formation itself was laughing. "Soon….my revenge will be complete." He said loudly,

however….Kankuro missed a detail in the picture….the sand that was mysteriously floating near Hinata.

---end---

A/N: there, the villain revealed! Next chapter, the conclusion of the cat fight and the first battle of Suna?!? Maybe. Get those reviews in so I can write who wins the cat fight and who gets to end up sleeping with Gaara. Lemon in the next chapter for all you citrus fans.

Until then, PEACE!

---ReforgedGaara


	24. Chapter 23: Missing

(A/N: I know it's been awhile since I updated this fiction but its because as usual a lot of shit has been going on in my life. Eh, well its almost over and I'm gonna go off to college in September. So I can now get back to the story.  hope you enjoy it.)

Chapter 23: Missing

"It has been some time….Itachi" a cloaked figure said as he emerged from the shadows. The figure of Itachi stood with his back to the figure, bored and uncaring as usual "Indeed….Sasori…" he said in his monotone. Sasori crept slowly foreward his massive tail hanging behind him, and his odd mask peaking out from his heavy Akatsuki cloak. "I trust you failed in capturing both Jinchurriki (A/N: Those with demons inside of him, IE Gaara and Naruto)" He chuckled. Itachi rolled his eyes slightly "It was simply not the right time….that is all." He said briskly as he started to walk off "but if you feel you can do a better job…" he stopped in place and looked casually over his shoulder "feel free to take a shot at it." And he walked off, his footsteps echoing down the hollow halls of Akatsuki HQ. Sasori smirked "I think I will, Itachi….I think I will…" he walked off as well in the opposite direction.

---Later in Sunagakure---

In a sand sculpted castle, a bitter man sat on his throne, surrounded by puppets. Lifeless machines he used to do his dirty work. In a sense he treated everyone like a puppet, he was the man who loved to control and destroy…his name…was Kankuro. He had met no one with his specific interests and had no reason to develop social skills as a child because of his little brother Sabaku no Gaara. _Gaara…you were a monster…and because of your crimes…I had no friends…_his eyes slanted in anger _I will never forgive you for that._ He thought as he glowered out at his faithful subjects. He clenched his fist as he stood up _Time to train…_he thought as he closed his eyes and drew upon his chakra, molding it into thin lines connecting to five puppets, they stood at attention. He concentrated and connected to ten, small beads of sweat glistening as they rolled down his face. _Come on…how am I supposed to control this army of puppets if I cant even control twenty?_ He asked himself as he tried once more to extend his chakra out into twenty puppets. The blue lines stretched and stretched, his concentration slipping, finally they reached the puppets, who slowly stood. Kankuro opened his eyes and smiled evilly "TWENTY!!" he yelled as his cry of success echoed up through the spires of his sand castle. He released them gasping for breath, retracting the chakra lines back into his body.

A slow polite clapping was heard as a particular Akatsuki robe peeked out of the darkness, his face hidden in shadow except for his eyes. "well done….young puppeteer." The Akatsuki member said. Kankuro growled lowly hating to be called young "And who are you?" he asked slightly wary _why did my border patrol puppets not warn me that he was coming? How did he get in here unaided?_ He thought to himself. "you're damn good if you can get through my puppets….who are you?" he asked. Sasori laughed "you call though puppets? Those were mere toys!" he laughed again, his entire body chuckling. Kankuro growled "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT THESE TOYS CAN DO!!" he yelled as he flung his hand forward and lowered a summoning scroll to the ground, in a poof of smoke Karasu(A/N: Karasu is the first puppet Kankuro is seen using during the show, the four handed one.) appeared. Sasori lifted an eyebrow as he saw the puppet charge clacking loudly all four hands extended. He laughed as all four attack spikes imbedded in Karasu hit him square in the chest "now what?" Sasori asked as he tore away his Akatsuki cloak revealing that Karasu had hit Hiruko (A/N: Hiruko is the scorpion puppet that Sasori resides in most of the time.). Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise _Another puppeteer?_ He asked himself. Hiruko then smashed Karasu with its giant tail sweeping it aside and charging Kankuro himself. Kankuro was paralyzed with fear, immobilized. Hiruko struck with its poisoned tail landing square in Kankuro's chest, in a poof of smoke Kankuro was not there, only Kuroari(A/N: The defense puppet that Kankuro uses, can also combine with Karasu as seen in the series). Hiruko smirked, if that was possible for a puppet, "you know Kankuro…you're really outmatched here….I MADE those puppets you're using…." He laughed evilly. Kankuro listened from up in a corner controlling his puppets from there _This is getting seriously out of hand…I may be out matched here…_ he tightened his fist and shook his head _NO! I WILL NOT BE BESTED!_ He thought as he steeled his mind for the battle. He brought Karasu and Kuroari to surround Hiruko and Sasori. "You may be a puppet master too, but I will not be bested so easily…" Karasu said with Kankuro's voice. The two puppets charged Sasori, Karasu extending its arms to attack while Kuroari opened its chest, spitting out string which ensnared Hiruko. Karasu wrapped around Hiruko and started flying toward Kuroari's chest, then it released Hiruko into Kuroari's chest. The chest snapped shut, all its locks clicking into place. _I have you now…_Kankuro thought as Karasu snapped apart and sank its weapons into the sockets of Kuroari "_Kurohigi Kiki Nihatsu"_(A/N: Black Secret Technique Machine Two Shot) Kankuro said smugly. He sank down from the upper spire of the chamber where he had been hiding. "I hoped you liked playing with my toys…" Kankuro said laughing as he turned away from the puppets and started to walk down to his throne. Suddenly a groaning noise filled the chamber and Kankuro turned slowly around to see his puppets locks groaning to stay hinged. "This can't be…" Kankuro stuttered. The puppet busted completely open sending puppet fragments everywhere. When the dust cleared, there sat Hiruko "Is that all you've got?" he asked darkly "and you call yourself a puppet master…" the scorpion tail swung through the air and with a sickening noise pierced Kankuro through the chest. His scream echoed through the caverns "You adored your toys so much, I think I'll be generous….even in death you will still commune with them…I will make you…a _Hitokugutsu_" (A/N: A human puppet) Kankuro's eyes lolled back into his skull as he breathed his last "It seems…I've lost….the game…" Kankuro said as he died with a confident smirk on his face. Sasori growled and with a whip of his tail removed the corpse from his tail "Now…what to do with all these puppets….." he laughed evilly as he surveyed the army, his laughes echoing inside the castle. His laughter and Kankuro's screams mixed in the castle and leaked out into the desert night air filling the desert with the eerie melody.

---Meanwhile in Kazekage's Palace---

Gaara stared out at the stars his sea green sleepless eyes _En'Ioko…_he thought sadly. _You…I can't describe you…_ and as if by magic the kitsune appeared by his side "Nice night Gaara-kun." She said softly in his ear. Gaara blinked impassively not showing his surprise "Yeah…its one of the perks of being an insomniac." He said softly "you get to look at the stars." He trailed off getting lost in his own thought. En'Ioko sighed _He doesn't deserve what's coming to him…I had thought…he really was a monster…but…he's proved to be nothing like that…I…I am sorry Gaara-kun…_she thought as she at him sadly. Her eyes wandered over his black t-shirt and ripped blue jeans, his chains that hung low from his jeans seemed to mirror his enslavement to Shukaku. _You really do deserve better…_ she thought as she slowly walked away steeling herself for what she had to do that evening.

As En'Ioko walked away Gaara watched her leave _I hate to see you go…_his eyes wandered down her lithe form _but I love watching you leave…_he allowed himself a lustful thought and a smirk to play across his face. _I really do feel around you…and…its not so bad…_he thought softly to himself. He took a deep breath of cool night air, allowing it to clear his mind.

Sasuke and Naruto walked slowly toward Gaara, flanking him on both sides "hey" Naruto said cheerfully. "hn" Sasuke greeted Gaara in his usual manner. Gaara's sand swirled a little around him and produced a pack of cigarettes, it popped open the top and took out three. Sasuke and Naruto took one each from the sand as the sand lifted the final one to Gaara's mouth "Sasuke, got a light?" Gaara mumbled. Sasuke nodded as the sand took all three from their owners and held them out about ten feet away from them "go ahead, Sasuke!" Naruto said waiting for the lighter to come out. Instead Sasuke smirked and his hands made a flurry of hand signs "Katon: Gyukaru no jutsu!" he said as he produced a thin line of flame that ignited the cigarettes. Gaara blinked and handed out the smokes to them again. Naruto growled "SASUKE! WHAT A SHOW OFF!! GRRR!!" he yelled as he took the cigarette and took a drag on it. Sasuke chuckled and smoked for awhile. Gaara just stood there puffing every now and then, the three stood there somehow sharing the same sense of dread "its coming" Gaara said softly. Naruto nodded and said "I can feel it…" Sasuke nodded as well "Its…going to be bad…I just wish we knew what it was." He said blowing out a long plume of smoke. "I wish we could go back to smoking and drinking on our roof in Konoha….locking Naruto in the trunk…strapping him to the roof…" Sasuke said softly. Gaara nodded "it seems so far away now though….as if we're totally different people….". Naruto growled "am I the ONLY ONE who DOESN'T MISS THE OLD DAYS?!?" he yelled. Sasuke smirked "at least Naruto is still the same." All three shinobi shared a grin and a hearty laugh, at least trying to relax before the giant fight descended on them all. Gaara extended his fist forward towards Sasuke and Naruto "no matter what happens….we three watch each other's backs….". Naruto nodded and stuck his fist in towards Gaara's "yeah, all for one and one for all." Sasuke nodded grimly "till death and after…" all three looked at each other in the eyes "brothers till the end. We are The Fox, The Demon and The Avenger." They all knew in their hearts, even if they didn't act like it sometimes……..they were friends till the end….no matter if they went through hell and back…they'd make it through together.

In the girls dorms, Kismet sat in her black lace bra and black thong reading Nietzsche "When you look into the Abyss, the Abyss looks into you." She read aloud. _That's so true…I love this guy…_she chewed on her pencil and thought _Applies a lot to Gaara too…maybe the reason he's pushed me away is because he sees into me…and I've been acting like he doesn't…_she sighed _boys are so complicated…_she paused and then smirked _at least the worthwhile ones are._ She laughed and looked out to see Gaara smoking with Naruto and Sasuke _He doesn't realize it yet…but he's not alone anymore…He's found where he belongs….with us._

Sasuke and Naruto took one last look at Gaara before stamping out their cigarettes and walking off. Sasuke looked back towards the palace _Gaara…you are like me…and I won't forget this time I have with you and Naruto…my only friends…_He sighed and walked off. Naruto looked ahead _You have become one of my important people Gaara…and I will fight to protect you…I promise._ Then Gaara was alone, standing in the dark looking at the full moon and stars.

A black inky shadow leapt up the side of the building one ledge at a time, doing flips and handsprings agilely until the feminine form landed right in front of Gaara. "Hey there handsome" she whispered. Gaara calmed himself _Only one girl could get me this excited…_The figure stepped into the moon light revealing her feminine form clad in only a dark purple bed sheet wrapped toga style around her _Kismet…_he thought. She smirked and walked toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck "miss me?" she asked. Gaara nodded "yeah." He said as he pulled her in close and kissed her softly. Kismet responded in turn not by her usual turning up the heat method but by keeping it soft and sweet. "I…I need to talk…" Kismet said softly burying her head into his chest. Gaara looked down at her puzzled "ok…" he said warily.

Kismet's eyes burned "everyone looks at me like I'm a slut, like I don't have feelings…but you know me…you know that…I…I.." she let tears start to slide down her cheeks "I love you…." She whispered. Gaara let the impact of her words hit him. _Love?...what?…how?…why?_ he thought as his hands seemed to instinctually wrap around her, holding her. Kismet snuggled into his chest more "I…I know I'm very physical…but that's only because…I know…I know…" he sighed "that I can't deny you…anything." She said softly as she looked up at him, eyes moist and lips quivering. Gaara looked into her eyes and for once, his eyes softened and he leaned down and kissed her softly. Kismet leaned up into the kiss, enjoying how it seemed to last forever, how it felt…to be accepted. The kiss ended and Gaara said "Thank you…for…saying that." He sight and let go of her, walking off to stare at the moon "but I cannot love…I…am…" he looked down at his feet. "a monster…" she said softly as the sand cackled in his mind. Kismet wiped her eyes and was confident again, "So you're worried about hurting me? Or about falling in love because you're afraid that you would get rejected for being a monster?" she asked slowly walking towards him seductively "because as for the hurt….sometimes I like it.." she smirked "and lucky for you…." She came up behind him and licked his ear, whispering "I LIKE monsters…"

(A/N: Sorry for lack of lemon here, it wasn't finished on time b/c of a certain person who couldn't be bothered to focus for a few hours. So don't blame me.)

Gaara woke up groggily with the sun rising over the Sunagukure landscape. His eyes watched the light hues of red and orange play across the sands and clouds. He let a small smile appear on his face, then it disappeared like the precious colors of the sunrise. He looked over next to him and realized Kismet was still there, cuddled up in his arms smiling contentedly. He looked down at her and ran his hand through her soft red hair "Kismet…" he seemed to say the name in an attempt at tenderness, failing though. Kismet moaned and covered her head with the covers.

Gaara smirked and almost laughed as he rose out of bed and headed to the shower smelling thoroughly of sex. He turned on the water and fidgeted with himself until he was sure the water was warm enough. He climbed in the shower feeling the warm water splashing on him, cleansing him of his morning yuckiness. He poured in his hand some body wash, lathered it over his toned and now tanned skin. His red hair had grown long and shaggy now _Time for a trip to the royal barber…_he thought as he shampooed his hair. He got out of the shower and wrapped his lower portion of himself in a towel. He went to his drawers and picked out a pair of blood red boxers and put them on. He pulled out a pair of tattered black jeans and put new chains on them, putting the pants on as well. Then he grabbed a dark green t-shirt and put it on. Finally he ran his hands through his red shaggy hair a couple of times to get it at least in the vague style he wanted it. He looked himself over in the mirror and nodded to himself as his sand gathered around him forming his classic gourd on his back "there…all set." He said as he walked out of his room letting Kismet sleep.

He arrived in the giant common room of their little section of the Palace, also there he saw Kara, Neji, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Ino, and Hinata. Kara was wearing a camo t-shirt with loose jeans and a wrist band. Neji was wearing his white shirt with classic blue jeans and a simple chain around his neck. Sakura was wearing a cute pink shirt with a blue jean skirt. Sasuke was wearing his black t-shirt, blue jeans, and silver chains down his jeans. Naruto was wearing his usual orange jumpsuit. Ino was wearing a blue tube top with a really short brown skirt. Finally Hinata was wearing a plain blue shirt with plain blue jeans. "morning Gaara" they all said except for Sasuke who just said "hn". Gaara nodded "morning" he said lowly as he sat down in a plushy red leather chair. "So what we gonna do today?" Naruto asked excited. Gaara shrugged bored "whatever, I guess" _But I feel that today...is different…like I won't be seeing everyone here again…_he thought as he looked over everyone once more. Finally Kara spoke up "you okay Gaara?" she asked worriedly. Gaara snapped out of it "yeah…" he said shaking his head to clear it. A knock sounded at the door and Gaara opened it with his sand, the door swung open revealing En'Ioko panting for breath "GAARA!! KANKURO'S HERE! HE'S BROUGHT HIS ARMY!! ITS HUGE!!! WE NEED YOU ALL NOW!" she screamed. Gaara nodded and he rose from the chair and looked everyone in the eyes "Let's do this…this is my home…I must protect it." _You are my family…I must protect you all._ He thought but didn't say. Kismet rose groggily and stumbled out the door in her tight leather battle gear. The rest filed out ready for battle, not looking too happy about it though.

The sight that greeted the team of shinobi was not at all what they were thinking it would be…and it shocked them all into full awareness. An army of ninja's from all different villages and all different ages…..including the Third Kazekage. At the front was Kankuro, chakra strings extending from all of his fingers and toes controlling……..the people. Sakura blinked and then realized something horrible….something…sick…she promptly threw up all over the ground. Everyone turned to her and was concerned "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked holding her from behind. Sakura finally recovered and said "The ninja's….they…they're puppets…human…puppets." She said gagging. Neji's Byakugan activated and he was horrified "she…she's right…all of them….used to be human…but now…are puppets." Gaara remained impassive "Kankuro…I always knew you were sick…but this…this is…unforgivable." He said to Kankuro. Neji stopped him from going on "Gaara….Kankuro…is a puppet too." Gaara was hit like a ton of bricks _oh…my brother…how…who…oh no…_he clenched his fists slowly _you were supposed to be mine to kill…_he thought as his sand whipped around him. He growled and turned to face the Jounin "TODAY WE ARE FACED WITH EXTINCTION! WILL YOU STAND AS THE MEN YOU ARE AND FIGHT WITH ME? OR WILL YOU COWER IN FRIGHT?" his voice boomed as sand gathered behind him in a massive tidal wave "THIS IS SUNAGAKURE! AND THE VERY SAND ITSELF BECKONS FOR US TO FIGHT! LET US SHOW THEM THE TERROR OF THE HIDDEN VILLAGE OF SAND!!" he roared as the sand shot up into the sky and rained down upon all the puppets and men alike, cracking into the puppets like projectiles but harmlessly splashing against the Jounin. "TO BATTLE!!" Gaara roared as a massive wave of sand carried him to the front of the battle. The ninja rallied behind him charging "FOR KAZEKAGE! FOR GAARA!!" they shouted as they leapt into battle against the puppets.

A solitary Akatsuki cloaked figure stood in the very back of the battle, his hands making a flurry of hand signs "it is time….Sabaku no Gaara…" his hands continued making signs "_Aka Higi: Hyakki no Sōen" _He said gravely (A/N: Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets) The puppets sprang to life fighting the Jounin, using ninja techniques as well as throwing shiruken. Gaara rode the wave of sand covering one third of the army "_Sabaku Taisō" (A/N: Desert Imperial Funeral) _He said as he placed his hands on the sand which compacted all the sand under enormous pressure, breaking all the puppets underneath. The second wave of puppets flung several hundred shiruken at Gaara, his sand moving into position automatically blocking them as the Jounin that had been under, slowly were brought to the surface unharmed, they rushed forward towards the puppets throwing shiruken with exploding tags on them. Kara rushed forward using her shadow attacks and super strength to destroy puppets one at a time. Neji's byakugan fully active helped him see the chakra strings as he used Juken to cut them leaving the puppets limp and harmless. Naruto and Sasuke teamed up with Rasengan and Chidori respectively taking many puppets down at once. Hinata tried to copy her brother's movements with marginal success. Ino and Sakura ran around the battle field healing wounded Jounin. Kismet took out her katana's and charged them with her kyuubi fire and started going to work on the puppets carving them into pieces or disabling them.

En'Ioko watched around them _I didn't think they'd even get through the first wave…this is….impressive. I underestimated them…well perhaps I can make Kankuro's job easier…_she thought as she ran up to where Gaara was on the front lines, she stopped right infront of him and hugged him, slipping a dagger out of her sleeve "En'Ioko what are you doing?" Gaara asked puzzled as he hugged her back "this is just in case I don't get to say…." She shoved the dagger into Gaara's back too fast for his sand to react "goodbye" she said in his ear as fire surged from her hands into the dagger and she twisted it twice. Gaara's eyes widened in surprise and pain as he fell forward onto her. En'Ioko tossed him off of her to the sand and sprinted away with tears in her eyes _I'm so sorry Gaara…but I had to do it…Kankuro is my master…and he wanted you dead…_she thought as she ran off the battle field and back to the sand castle. Gaara watched her flee _Did she just…stab me…in the back? Am I bleeding? Is this my blood?_ He blinked impassively feeling rage, anger, betrayal and hurt echo up from his soul, breaking through the impassive bonds that he kept himself under all the time. He was angry…but dying. _I have no energy…its not supposed to end like this…its not…supposed…to end…_he sighed and closed his eyes falling into a deep dark sleep. A billowing yellow chakra flowed out from his dan tien circulating through his chakra system, healing the back wound, sand crawling all over him, building building buiding until he stood twenty stories high. Shukaku let out a giant screech as he looked down at the puppet army and laughed as he shot out two balls of concentrated air "Fūton: Renkūdan" he said evilly. (A/N: Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet) puppets scattered everywhere broken and battered. Sasuke and Naruto looked up at Shukaku "oh no…" they said at the same time. The Fourth Kazekage watched the battle from the palace "Shukaku arises once more to protect Sunagakure…Gaara…" he said softly as he watched intently.

Sasori growled "I didn't plan on him releasing the demon…why would he do that? He hates releasing shukaku…its…its not feasible…" he thought as he ran toward Shukaku. _There must be a way to stop him…If only I had a bigger puppet…_he thought sadly _It looks like this is over for me unless I can take down Shukaku…_He made a hand sign and a the puppets started to concentrate their attacks on Shukaku. The giant raccoon-dog snarled and started picking puppets up and eating them. Sasori smirked "Exploding puppet technique" as his hands made a flurry of hand signs. A rumbling was heard from inside of Shukaku's stomace as it growled and rumbled. Shukaku roared in pain as part of the sand that made up his stomach exploded outward and he collapsed onto the sand floor, melting away roaring. Kismet heard the roar and continued fighting, trying to get to Gaara. Hinata couldn't navigate in the battle, too much noise, too much anger, too much chaos…she sat down in the middle of the battle and cried. Kara stuck near Neji trying to protect him at all costs. Sasuke and Naruto stuck together fighting as a team, one complimenting the other perfectly. Sakura and Ino continued healing, not knowing what was happening.

Off in the distance, on a sandy dune, a solitary figure watched the battle as the giant monster fell down to, dust meeting dust. She let a single tear fall out of her eyes "Goodbye Gaara-kun…" she said softly as she turned her back and walked out into the horizon…alone. "Gaara…I may not have loved you…but…you are human…and I hope you realize that sooner or later…and I hope you're happy…goodbye…" she said to the empty wind. And with that En'Ioko vanished into the dust and light, never to be seen again.

Gaara was awake, he could feel his wounds healed, and he could feel energized….as if…Shukaku had come out. He panicked and tried to move, but found it hard, he could feel the sand melting away from him, his shell melting into the desert from whence it came. He pulled his head up gasping for air, he sucked in a lung full of dry sweet desert air, and the dull noise of battle beset his ears once more. He growled as he picked himself up, his chakra almost depleted and before his eyes he saw man who bore a striking resemblance to himself standing over him "So Sabaku no Gaara…you survived…" and with a clacking sound he grabbed him up from the ground, the sand intercepting his hand and throwing him back into the sand. Gaara smirked and used his chakra to bury the interloper in sand "Sabaku Kyu!" the sand tightened around the red haired man. "Sabaku Soso!" he said as he clenched his fist, the sand imploding upon itself with a sickening crunching noise. Gaara panted as he stood on his own. The sand shifted as the man rose like a puppet and with a clacking noise he stood upright, a scorpion tail behind him "fool…that won't kill me…" he said softly as he struck with his fists and tail, Gaara's sand blocking all of them with a little effort "I'll kill you…you've killed all my puppets…" Sasori said deathly serious. Gaara couldn't move, his ankles pinned down by a puppet at his feet who had jumped back to life. He growled and watched as Sasori's tail dripped poison for the final attack. Gaara's mind rushed as his hands made the instinctive movements for his last defense "_Saikō Zettai Bōgyo: Shukaku no Tatte"_ (A/N: Last Absolute Defense: Shield of Shukaku) he said in his monotone as a giant life size replica of shukaku appeared infront of him "this is made of the deserts strongest minerals….you won't be able to pierce this." Gaara said as the poisoned tail dug repeatedly into the shukaku, as Sasori's ankles were pinned in place by sand. Sasori growled until he could no longer sustain the puppet and Gaara moved back several feet, concentrating hard as he dissipated the Shukaku replica and gritted his teeth as he made the hand symbols for his next attack "This is it….my last shot…" Gaara sputtered as he tried to hold his eyes open "_Saikō Zettai Hōgeki, Shukaku no Hōkō" _(A/N: Ultimate Absolute Attack: Shukaku's Halberd) he said as he held out his hand and a giant spear materialized from sand in his hand, its blade shaped like Shukaku's paw. Sasori stood there in terror "you…you can't pierce my armor!" he said as he shielded his heart with his hands and five puppets rushed over to guard him. Gaara leaned foreward and threw the spear with deadly accuracy towards Sasori's heart, one by one the puppets put themselves in its way and one by one they shattered. Finally it entered into the Hiruko's armor and with a splintering sound it shattered through it and pierced the heart beneath it, killing Sasori. Sasori gurgled for a moment then dropped down dead, still clutching his puppet strings. Gaara fell to his knees in the sand drained of all his chakra and tired. Gaara fell down further biting the dust and passing out as the puppets around them stopped moving without their master to control them.

Sasuke and Naruto fell down poisoned from the puppets hits on them, and breathed a sigh of relief as the puppets died all around them. They laid down on the sand, closed their eyes…and prepared for death. Sakura and Ino hurried taking Sasuke and Naruto to the hospital, Kara taking Neji. Neither Kismet nor Gaara was seen. Kismet limped seeing the battle was over back to base, suddenly she tripped over something. She fell forward hitting the sand hard and let out an "oomph!". She got up and saw Sabaku no Gaara on the ground. She gasped and put her ear to his mouth "shallow breathing…white skin…." She looked him over, seeing a puncture wound in his back "poisoned…" she said as she grabbed him and flung him over her shoulder "got to get him some help…" she winced at the pain that sent shooting up her feet from the extra weight, but she winced and bore it "I have to save him….he saved me…" she said as she limped forward "I have to save him….I love him." She said softly.

The others sat in the hospital sleeping, except for the girls. They sat on the window looking for Gaara to come miraculously appear over the horizon….but no one came. Finally a solitary figure with a huge load on its back appeared shadowed by the sunset appeared on the horizon. The girls leaned in to see who it was, only to see it was Kismet, holding Gaara on her back, limping back towards the Palace. The girls stared in wonder "no way…its Kismet…and she's…carrying him…" they just stared and watched as the black leather clad woman approached the door and leapt up the wall, collapsing on the bed with Gaara "he…poisoned…get..help.." she muttered before passing out totally exhausted. Sakura ripped back what was left of Gaara's shirt and put her hands on his chest concentrating her chakra on him, ridding him of most of the poison. An hour passed and she sat back exhausted "It'll take awhile… but they'll be okay…all of them…now……we need to rest…" she gasped as she fell asleep. One by one the ladies fell asleep next to their boy friends, holding their hands.

In the dark of the night, sometime around midnight an Akatsuki cloaked figure with blood red eyes calmly entered the room. He looked over the sleeping figures impassively _Thank you Sasori for doing my job for me…_Uchiha Itachi thought as he scooped up and sleeping Gaara. He shouldered him easily and leapt out of the window _One tailed demon captured…and one less Sasori to deal with…today has been a VERY productive day…_He thought as he jumped along the desert landscape into an open cave. "Now time to summon the others…and perform the ritual." He said to himself as he made a hand sign and thought one thing _Its Time_

----end----


End file.
